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FERDINAND 
LASSALLE 

^s  a  novelistic  subject 
of  Friedrich  Spiel hagen 


Submitted  to  the  Faculty  of  tke 
Graduate  ScKool  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Penns3>lvaiua  in  par- 
tial fulfilment  of  tKe  require- 
ments for  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  PKilosopKy 


By 
ADOLF  SCHUMACHER 


^ 


PRINTBD  BT 

ADTBBTISBB-REFDBLICiJI 

ANNAPOUa,  MD. 


^^^.. 


\.-J 


PREFACE 


In  his  attempt  to  depict,  by  means  of  the  novel, 
the  social  and  political  thoughts  which  pervaded 
Prussia-Germany  during  the  middle  of  the  past 
century,  Friedrich  Spielhagen  would  have  failed  in 
his  poetical  theories,  had  he  passed  by  the  great 
exponent  of  a  socialist  movement  which  set  in  at 
that  time.  Indeed,  for  some  of  his  novels  he  has 
drawn  to  a  great  extent  from  the  life  and  works  of 
Ferdinand  Lassalle. 

However,  the  writer  of  ''Zeitromane"  was  led 
also  by  the  desire  to  influence  his  time,  and  conse- 
quently, his  ethical  idealism  and  political  stand- 
point put  him  to  oppose  Lassalle  by  novelistic 
means. 

Therefore,  in  presenting  the  material  which  the 
life  and  works  of  the  founder  of  German  social 
democracy  have  furnished  for  the  literary  activity 
of  Spielhagen,  and  which  in  part  is  contained  in  a 
study  "Ferdinand  Lassalle  im  deutschen  Zeitro- 
tC^.  man, ' '  submitted  by  me  to  the  Faculty  of  thel&rad- 

"^"^  uate  School  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  in 

partial  fulfilment  of  the  requirements  for  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  a  statistical  form  has 
been  deemed  less  interesting  than  an  arrangement 
from  viewpoints,  suggested  by  the  agitatorial  ef- 
forts of  both  the  Democrat  and  the  novelist. 

A.  S. 
University  of  Pennsylvania, 
October,  1910. 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  Friedrich  Spielhagen's  novel,  "Die  von  Hohenstein,"  of 
1863,  Bernhardt  Miinzer  declares  at  the  close  of  his  great  plea, 
that  he  would  console  himself  over  his-exit  from  the  political 
scene  with  the  hope  that  the  genius  of  the  German  people  in 
their  attempt  to  solve  their  great  pblitical  and  social  problems 
might  discover,  by  experimenting  with  him  and  his  friends,  the 
saving  means  for  the  generations  to  come,  and  with  the  thought, 
also,  that  the  stone  rejected  by  the  builder  had,  after  all,  become 
a  corner-stone  of  the  State  of  the  future.  Thoughts  of  this  kind, 
no  doubt,  were  often  in  the  mind  of  Ferdinand  Lassalle  when, 
during  the  last  momentous  years  of  his  life,  he  sat,  figuratively 
and  literally,  in  the  dock.  They  found  expression  the  same  year 
in  a  passage  of  his  Frankfurt  speech  of  May  19,  in  which  he 
voices  his  firm  belief  in  his  being  some  day  vindicated  before  the 
court  of  history,  and  in  the  advent  of  a  time  that  would  see  es- 
tablished the  state  institutions  for  which  he  was  struggling.  Too 
impatient  to  wait  for  the  natural  development  of  conditions, 
which  he  correctly  foresaw  to  be  those  of  the  future,  he  expected 
them  to  be  realized  during  his  life.  His  untimely  death  did  not 
permit  him  to  rejoice  even  over  the  unification  of  Germany  (with 
the  exclusion  of  Austria)  and  the  introduction  of  xmiversal 
suffrage,  the  two  chief  points  of  his  political  program,  for  which, 
as  the  only  possible  basis  for  the  social  betterment  of  the  prole- 
tariat, he  had  been  working  with  his  whole  energy.  Nor  can 
it  be  said  that  his  personal,  passionate  entreaties  influenced  the 
Iron  Chancellor  to  execute  a  few  years  later  the  program  of  the 
philosopher-agitator  at  those  decisive  points  of  both  foreign  and 
domestic  policies.^  But  he  has  a  preponderant  share  in  the  start 
of  the  German  social  democratic  movement.  He  is  the  man  who 
grasped  and  made  real  the  fertile  thought  when  the  time  came 
by  staking  his  whole  personality.  He  thus  has  become  the 
comer-stone  to  which  Miinzer  claims  title.  His  ideas  are  a  vital 
forc«  in  the  social  life  of  modern  Germanv.^ 


1  Georg  Brandes,  Ferdinand  Lassalle.     Lelpsig  1889.  p.  4. 

2  Bembard  Harms,  Ferdinand  Lassalle  und  seine  Bedeutung  fiir  die  deutsohe 
Sozialdemokratia     Jena  1909.  p.  81  f. 


Before  entering  the  political  arena  Lassalle  was  very  happily 
characterized  by  Heinrich  Heine  as  a  genuine  son  of  the  new 
time,  who,  not  given  to  the  modesty  with  which  the  older  genera- 
tion had  idiotically  idled  on,  wants  to  put  himself  forward  amidst 
the  actual  world.^  The  "wonder-child"  of  A.  von  Humboldt 
was  a  man  of  practical  realism,  who,  rather  than  being  satisfied 
with  the  ideas  and  dreams  of  "Young  Germany,"  employed  his 
wide  knowledge,  extraordinary  energy  and  "glowing"  patriot- 
ism (?)  in  the  attempt  to  solve  the  most  important  political  and 
social  problems  of  his  time.  A  democrat  by  nature,  he  was  per- 
meated by  the  thought  of  Karl  Marx,  like  him  a  disciple  of 
Hegel,  that  democracy  could  maintain  its  hold  and  rise  into 
power  solely  through  a  connection  with  the  material  interests  of 
society.  This  meant,  after  the  realization  of  the  national  aspira- 
tions, the  championship  of  the  social  demands  of  the  working 
classes  in  order  to  hitch  the  progress  of  oppressed  mankind  to 
the  wagon  of  the  democrats'  political  lust  for  power.  Since 
1848  Lassalle  was  the  first  in  Prussia-Germany  to  start  in  this 
direction  at  a  time  when  German  unification  was  being  prepared 
without  any  participation  by  democracy.  Only  as  a  democratic 
politician  striving  for  power  did  he  become  a  socialist.  Excluded 
by  his  social  standing,  race,  and  political  past  from  an  official 
position  which  might  have  placed  at  his  disposal  the  forces  of  the 
Prussian  State  for  the  amelioration  of  the  conditions  of  the 
working  classes,  he  founded  a  socialist  party  essentially  national 
— for  Lassalle 's  is  the  German  type  of  socialistic  movements — 
in  order  to  obtain  those  means  which,  to  his  mind,  created  the 
possibility  of  realizing  his  economic  plans.  As  a  socialist  he  has 
produced  nothing  original.  But  as  a  politician,  as  an  agitator, 
as  the  greatest  demagogue  German  history  has  known,  he  has 
made  his  greatest  personal  contribution;  it  was  he,  who,  at  an 
opportune  moment,  which  but  for  him  might  have  been  lost,  start- 
ed for  social  democracy  in  Prussia  a  political  movement  which 
accorded  with  the  innermost  trait  of  his  active  personality,  domi- 
nating aristocracy,  and  which  raised  questions  that  have  been, 
so  far,  only  partially  answered.  The  problems  he  pointed  out 
will  tax  severely  the  ingenuity  of  many  generations,  and  his 
spirit  dominate  the  future  for  a  long  time  to  come,^  or,  to  quote 
the  opinion  of  the  novelist  who  will  be  the  object  of  our  study : 


1  Letter  to  Vamhageu  von  Bnse  of  Jan.  3,  1846. 

2  Brandos,  1.  c.  p.  174. 


"  (Lassalle)  hat  sich  einen  Platz  in  der  Weltgeschichte  erobert, 
den  ihm  seine  argsten  Feinde  lassen  miissen  .  .  ,  der  riicksichts- 
und  skrupellos  Handelnde,  hat  die  Welt  —  die  deutsche  wenig- 
stens — ^in  eine  Bewegung  gesetzt,  zu  der  die  Revolution  von  1848 
sich  verhalt  wie  die  Windwelle  zur  Grundwelle;  in  eine  Bewe- 
gung, die  heute  nicht  nur  fortdauert,  sondem  erst  jetzt  beginnt, 
ihre  machtige  Tiefe  und  Kraft  an  den  Tag  zu  legen,  und  deren 
Ende  kein  Verstand  der  Verstandigen  abzusehen  vermag."^ 

In  his  autobiography  also,  Spielhagen  expresses  his  interest  in 
the  personality  of  Lassalle.  While  a  student  in  the  University  of 
Bonn  he  went  to  Cologne  to  attend  the  trial,  August  5-11,  1848, 
and  heard  the  eloquent  plea  of  the  Democrat  whose  great  future 
was  yet  before  him.  He  was  captivated  by  his  personality,  as 
Heine  had  been  a  short  time  before,  and  became  one  of  his  most 
ardent  admirers.^  Since  those  days  the  psychological  problem, 
Lassalle,  kept  the  interest  of  the  novelist  alive. 

At  the  time  of  this  trial,  however,  Spielhagen  himself  could 
not  have  foreseen  its  importance  for  the  future  writer  of 
"Zeitromane."  Although  following  the  events  of  1848-49  with 
the  keenest  interest  and  understanding,  he  took  no  part  in  the 
revolutionary  actions  of  his  fellow-students.  But  when  heybe- 
oame  conscious  of  the  aim  of  his  literary  work  as  a  poetical 
reproduction  of  the  whole  of  modem  life  in  a  form  and  light, 
such  as  the  classical  poets  used  for  their  time,^  and  when  cir- 
cumstances brought  him,  during  his  days  at  Hanover,  into 
friendly  relation  with  the  most  prominent  members  of  the 
Nationalverein  and,  a  few  years  later  in  Berlin,  with  the  leaders 
of  the  Fortschrittspartei,  he  learned  to  know  politics  as  the 
efforts  to  work  and  to  think  to  the  best  of  one's  power  for  the 
y/elfare  of  all,  and  his  poetical  work,  his  novels  on  the  modem 
life  of  his  country,  received  the  stamp  of  a  pronounced  political 
purpose. 

What  Lassalle  was  in  the  field  of  politics,  Spielhagen  became 
in  the  domain  of  letters,  a  great  agitator,*  a  poet  Representative 
of  the  people  for  whose  most  sacred  and  highest  interests  he 
henceforth  worked  honestly  and  conscientiously.^    Studying  the 


1  F.  Spielhagen,  Finder  und  Erfinder.     I.  p.  276  f. 

t  F.  Spielhagen,  Frelgeboren.     p.  287. 

3  Hans  Hennlng,  P.  Spielhagen.    Leipzig  1910.  p.  50. 

*  ?A.??*   Meyer.   Die  deutsche  Literatur  dee  neunzehnten   Jahrhunderts.      Berlin 

1910.  II.  p.  82. 
5  Hennlng,  1.  c.  p.  186 ;  133.     Cp.  p.  46. 


8 

tendencies  of  his  time  he  depicts  all  evils  of  partisanship  with 
the  greatest  frankness.  When  he  became  the  editor  of  the 
"Deutsche  Wochenschrif t, "  in  1862,  he  published  in  this  weekly 
his  literary  credo,  that  he  would  not  forget  the  high  dignity  of 
poetry  and  make  political  capital  out  of  it.  The  object  of  all 
art,  he  said  in  conscious  accord  with  Hamlet's  address  to  the 
players,  is  to  let  Nature  look  in  a  mirror,  and  show  Virtue  her 
own  traits  and  Disgrace  her  own  picture,  and  the  age  and  the 
body  of  the  time  the  image  of  their  forms.  Only  that  poet  has 
lived  for  all  times  who  has  satisfied  the  best  of  his  time  when  he 
combines  a  full  understanding  of  the  tendencies  of  the  present 
with  the  warmest  sympathy  for  everything  that  fills  it ;  when  he 
sets  his  mind  on  belonging  to  no  party  but  the  party  of  the 
good,  true  and  beautiful.^  From  the  standpoint  of  this  credo 
Spielhagen  looks  at  the  history  of  his  time,  not  as  an  historian 
who  judges  its  events  with  the  coldest  objectivity,  but  as  a  son 
of  his  time  who  feels  compelled  to  interfere  and  fight  for  his 
ideals.  As  Lassalle  turns  from  the  dreams  of  the  drawing-room 
heroes  of  Young  Germany  to  become  a  man  of  action,  so  the 
novelist  frees  himself  from  the  pessimism  and  materialism  of 
the  time  of  his  youth  by  embracing  the  belief  in  the  possibility 
of  healing  the  ailments  of  his  time-  and,  in  contrast  with  the 
herd-like  feeling  of  his  contemporaries,  gives  expression  in  his 
works  to  his  own  strong  individuality.  He  treats  of  those  ideas 
which  flow  through  the  national  body  and  stir  up  the  mind  and 
passions  of  the  individual,  and  opposes  them,  when  necessary, 
with  those  which  he  believes  will  be  wholesome  for  all. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  articles  on  political  questions,' 
Spielhagen  uses  the  novel  as  the  medium  of  his  agitation.  The 
novel,  according  to  his  ' '  Neue  Beitrage  zur  Theorie  und  Technik 
der  Epik  und  Dramatik,"  must,  like  the  epic  poems  of  Homer, 
draw  a  world-picture  in  which  the  acting  persons  are  exclusively 
characterized  by  their  words  and  actions,  if  it  intends  to  be  in 
artistic  value  the  equal  of  the  drama  which  since  the  time  of 
Aristotle  has  been  taken  to  represent  the  height  of  poetry.  In 
order  to  bring  on  the  scene  persons  full  of  life,  the  poet,  just 
like  the  artist  or  the  sculptor,  should  use  models  to  which  the 
fire  of  his  imagination  must  give  an  artistic  form.* 


1  HenniQg,  1.  c.  p.  186 ;  133.     Cp.  p.  46. 

2  Zlemssen,  F.  S.  Breslau  1880.  p.  14  £E. 

3  Spielhagen,  Am  Wege.     Cp.  Hennlng,  1.  c.  p.  134. 

4  Hennlng,  1.  c.  p.  162 ;  cp.  pp.  126  ;  46. 


I  / 


How  far  Spielhagen  has  attained  his  aim  and  successfully 
proved  by  practice  the  correctness  of  his  theory  does  not  con- 
cern us  here.  At  all  events,  he  has  followed  up  his  theory,  and 
in  drawing  a  picture  of  the  Prussian-German  world  with  its 
political  and  social  tendencies  as  he  saw  them,  has  used  the  great 
democratic  exponent  of  revolutionary  and  socialistic  thoughts 
as  a  model  for  the  hero  of  two  of  his  novels.  Besides,  Lassalle 
was  a  personality  which  attracted  because  of  his  powerful  and 
original  intellect,  not  to  speak  of  his  attainments  in  the  realm  of 
learning.  We  meet  the  man  who  stood  at  the  beginning  of  Ger- 
man social  democracy  still  in  Spielhagen 's  last  novel  of  1900, 
" Freigeboren. "  The  heroine  of  this  novel,  "free-born,"  intel- 
lectual and  noble-minded,  emancipated  in  the  best  sense  of  the 
word,  a  free-thinker  in  religious  and  political  matters,  follows 
with  passionate  interest  the  conflict  between  the  Prussian 
Government  of  1862  and  the  Opposition  (p.  278)  ;  she  is  in 
favor  of  a  strong  army  which  will  call  Austria  to  account  and 
establish  German  unity;  and  in  contrast,  therefore,  Mdth  her 
surrounding  company  (p.  z85)  she  takes  the  part  of  Lassalle, 
to  whom  her  husband,  as  a  member  of  the  Progressionists,  is 
naturally  opposed.  We  see  and  hear  Lassalle  and  understand 
her  admiration  for  his  great  intellectual  gifts  (pp.  287,  290,  293) 
and  political  activity,  his  championship  of  the  people's  rights, 
or  rather  the  rights  of  mankind — for  he  puts  realizable  justice  in 
the  place  of  Christ's  love  (p.  289),  but  we  see  also  how  correct 
is  her  judgment  of  his  moral  character  (p.  291).  We  have 
here  essentially  a  repetition  of  what  Spielhagen  says  about 
Lassalle  in  his  autobiography^  and  the  picture  he  has  drawn  is 
remarkably  in  agreement  with  that  which  Herman  Oneken  has 
given  us.^  Here  we  have  the  historical  person.  The  novelist 
makes  use  of  him  to  show  that  all  ailments  and  wounds  which 
spring  from  our  nature  can  not  be  healed  but  through  this  very 
same  nature;  that  we  learn  to  resign  ourselves  to  find  in  the 
world  of  our  thoughts  the  only  treasure  of  which  we  can  not  be 
deprived,  and  to  bring  all  forces  which  slumber  in  us  to  the  high- 
est possible  development.  Lassalle  is  but  a  subordinate  figure  in 
this  novel. 

It  is  different  with  the  other  novels.    There  it  is  the  hero  who 


1  Finder  und  Brflnder,  I.  p.  276-281. 

2  H.  Oncken,  Lassalle.     Stuttgart  1904. 


10 

is  more  or  less  modelled  on  Lassalle^  and  the  drawing  depends 
both  on  the  tendencies  of  the  novels  and  the  time  of  their  compo- 
sition. The  latter  has  caused  a  difference  in  presenting  the  life- 
work  of  the  hero,  although  the  two  novels,  in  a  certain  sense, 
form  but  two  chapters  of  one  and  the  same  story.  "Die  von 
Hohenstein"  appeared  in  1863,  "In  Reih  und  Glied"^  in  1866. 
But  the  year  1862  signifies  a  turning  point  in  the  life  of  Lassalle. 
In  April  of  1862  he  opened  his  campaign  of  agitation  among  the 
working  people.  "Die  von  Hohenstein"  can,  therefore,  show 
only  in  a  very  small  measure  traces  of  the  most  important  activ- 
ity of  Lassalle,  his  agitation  proper  for  the  social  improvement 
of  the  fourth  estate,  which  took  place  mainly  during  the  two 
last  years  of  his  life,  and  the  large  number  of  writings  and 
speeches  which  explain  his  views  on  the  labor  question,  a  num- 
ber which,  considering  the  short  space  of  time  in  which  they 
were  composed  or  rendered,  is  marvelous.  Compared  with  this 
extraordinary  activity  the  time  before  1862  appears  but  a  period 
of  general  preparation,  and  its  reflection  in  DvH  gives,  conse- 
quently, a  much  more  indefinite  picture  historically  than  that 
which  the  last  period  of  Lassalle 's  life  has  produced  in  IRuG. 
Moreover,  it  was  a  theoretic-SBsthetic  and  practical-poetical  prin- 
ciple of  the  novelist  never  to  bring  into  his  works  persons  who 
were  living  at  the  time  of  writing.  For  this  very  same  reason, 
he  confesses  at  the  time  of  the  eightieth  birthday  of  Prince 
Bismark,  that  he  never  introduced  into  his  novels  the  man  whom, 
next  to  Luther  and  Goethe,  he  considers  to  be  the  greatest  Ger- 
man, although  he  could  not  avoid  making  some  allusions  to  him 
in  novels  treating  events  of  the  present  times,^  and  this  principle 
accounts  partly,  no  doubt,  for  the  less  definite  picture  he  has 
drawn  of  Lassalle  in  DvH. 

In  spite  of  all  differences  in  detail,  however,  as  the  types  of 
one  novel  correspond  almost  exactly  with  those  of  the  other ;  as 
the  social  background  of  the  second  is  but  the  continuation  of 
the  first,  so  it  is  the  same  hero  who  takes  part  in,  or  leads  the 
struggle  for  the  solution  of  the  great  social  problems  of  his  time 
as  the  poet  conceives  them  to  be.    And  this  hero  reminds  one  of 


1  Hellmuth  Mieike,  Der  deutsche  Roman  des  19.     Jahrhunderts.     Braunschweig 
1898.     p.  294.     Henning,  1.  c.  p.  44 ;  163  :  188. 

2  Referred  to  as  DvH  and  IRuO  resp.  in  the  following. 

3  Egbert  Miiller,  Bismarck  im  Urteil  seiner  Zeitgenossen.     Berlin  1895 ;  Hea- 
ning,  1.  c.  p.  217-8. 


11 

• 

Lassalle  in  so  many  details  of  personal  appearance,  character 
and  mind,  actions  and  speech,  and  incidents  of  life,  evidently 
suggested  by  the  historical  agitator,  which  would  make  it  an 
easy  task  to  prove  that  Spielhagen  modelled  the  figures  of 
Bernhardt  Miinzer  and  Leo  Gutmann  after  the  great  Democrat 
even  if  such  were  not  known  to  be  a-  fact. 

Here  the  novelist  uses  phrases  which,  in  similar  wording,  are 
found  in  Lassalle ;  e.  g.,  the  latter  says  in  his  first  great  speech 
before  the  court :  ' '  Auch  mein  Blick,  meine  Herren,  war  seit  je 
vorzugsweise  auf  die  allgemeinen  Fragen  und  Angelegenheiten 
gerichtet  .  .  ."^  and  Leo  (I  525)^:  "Mein  Blick  war  von 
Jugend  auf  unverwandt  auf  die  offentlichen  Interessen  gerich- 
tet." Miinzer,  too,  in  his  great  plea  utters  thoughts  of  Lassalle 
in  about  the  same  words.*  In  a  number  of  passages,  expressions, 
to  which  Lassalle  has  given  almost  the  form  of  winged  words, 
are  put  into  the  mouths  of  other  persons.  The  point  of  Archi- 
medes is  a  favorite  of  his,  and  the  story  of  the  Greek  philosopher 
and  the  Roman  soldier  he  recites  at  a  dramatic  moment  in  liis 
speech,  ' '  Die  Wissenschaf t  und  die  Arbeiter, '  '^  while  Leo  is  told 
(I  324;  II  507)  to  find  this  point  in  order  to  lift  the  world  in 
his  sense  off  its  hinges.  The  "Seiden  der  Gewalt"  become  the 
"Seiden  des  Prinzen"  ("Assisenrede,"  p.  48;  IRuG  II  549), 
the  dreadful  suffering  of  the  duchess  of  Praslin,  which  Lassalle 
so  dramatically  mentions  in  his  "  Assisenrede,  "^  is  put  into 
relation  with  an  event  in  DvH  which  causes  the  greatest  excite- 
ment (525).  Other  passages,  very  differently  worded,  express, 
after  all,  the  same  thoughts ;  e.  g.,  Lassalle  contrasts  with  dema- 
gogic skill  the  workmen  and  the  bourgeois :  ' '  Unter  dieser  win- 
zigen  Handvoll  Leute  (of  the  well-to-do)  windet  sich  in  stum- 
mer  unaussprechlicher  Qual  in  wimmelnder  Zahl  das  unbeniit- 
telte  Volk  .  .  .  produziert  alles,  was  uns  das  Leben  ver- 
schont  ..."  and  Leo,  looking  from  the  top  of  the  hiU  down 
to  the  mills  (II  275),  asks:  "Fiir  wen  arbeiten  die  da  .  .  .? 
fiir  ihre  Kinder,  die  mit  einem  Stiick  trocknen  Brodes  zu  Bett 


1  Figures  after  Leo  or  Miinzer,  respectively,  refer  to  tlie  edition  of  1895  of 
IRuG  and  DvH. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  249.  The  data  of  Lassalle's  life  having  been  taken  to  a  great- 
er extent  from  Oncken's  authoritative  and  comprehensive  biography,  refer- 
ences will  be  made  to  this  source  only  at  important  points  or  where  it  differs 
from  others.  Because  of  its  being  also  easier  of  access  it  will  be  referred  to 
in  case  it  contains  such  passages  from  Lassalle's  works  as  may  be  under  dis- 
cussion. 

3  Brandes.  1.  c.  p.  16 ;  17.     Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  50. 

4  Cp.  below  p.  69. 


12 

gegangen  sind?  fiir  ihre  Weiber,  die  wenn  sie  nicht  eben  in  die- 
ser  Holle  an  irgend  eine  Maschine  geschmiedet  sind,  zu  Hanse 
sitzen  und  Wasche  stopfen?  oder  arbeiten  sie  fiir  den  Mann  da 
oben,  der  die  Kunst  versteht,  aus  den  Sehweisstropfen  dieser 
Aermsten  den  deliziosesten  Champagner  zu  destillieren  .  .  .  ?"^ 
Again,  incidents  of  Lassalle's  life  serve  to  complete  the  narra- 
tion of  Spielhagen.  In  DvH  (21)  one  of  the  representative 
props  of  the  kingdom  by  the  grace  of  God  is  offended  because 
some  young  men  of  the  working  class  travelling  on  the  same  boat 
cheer  Schleswig-Holstein  and  the  future  German  republic.  This 
cheer  is  received  as  an  insult,  and  reminds  one  in  the  context  of 
the  novel,  of  the  insults  which  Frederic  William  IV  suffered  in 
Diisseldorf  in  August,  1848,  and  which  were  for  a  long  time 
imputed  to  the  machinations  of  LasseUe.  The  little  scrap  of 
paper  which  Tusky  leaves  at  Leo's  house  (II  463)  makes  the 
reader  think  of  the  short  note  Marx  sent  Lassalle  in  September, 
1861.^  The  great  liberty  enjoyed  during  his  short  imprisonment 
by  Leo,  who,  for  years,  has  been  implicated  in  high  treason  affairs 
like  Lassalle  (I  54),  recalls  that  of  the  latter  after  his  speech  at 
Neuss  (II  121).  Antonie  von  Hohenstein  tries  to  persuade 
Miinzer  to  take  a  trip  with  her  to  the  Orient  (462)  to  draw  him 
away  from  politics,  and  Leo,  too,  is  advised  to  take  such  a  trip ; 
Lassalle  did  so  in  September,  1856.  The  great  reception  which 
Leo  is  given  on  his  arrival  at  Tuchheim  by  the  working  people 
who  have  come  from  afar  to  greet  him  as  the  man  who  is  going 
to  free  them  from  their  wretchedness  (II 317)  is  a  picture  of  Las- 
salle 's  triumphal  tour  in  the  Rhenish  provinces  during  the  spring 
of  1864.^  Always  noble-minded  and  never  petty  — '  *  Das  schickt 
sich  nicht '  '*  —  the  great  Democrat  considers  money  for  what  it  is 
worth.  As  an  independent  man  of  means  and  of  refined  taste, 
he  lived  in  a  way  which  surpassed  the  average  mode  of  life  of  the 
Berliners  at  that  time.  He  kept  a  house  furnished  luxuriously 
and  his  Liberal  adversaries  often  mocked  at  the  leader  of  the 
workmen  because  of  his  expensive  habits.  This  is  no  doubt  re- 
flected in  the  depicting  of  the  luxurious  home  of  Leo  (I  353; 
II  325)  and  the  fondness  of  the  Democrat  for  visiting  beautiful 
public  houses  in  the  evening  (I  313).    He,  too,  scandalizes  his 


1  "Die  indirekte  Steuer" ;  Oncken,  1.  c  p.  363. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  231. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  404. 

4  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  392 ;  403.     Cp.  below  p.  108. 


13 

Liberal  opponents  by  his  love  of  luxury  (I  353).  But  to  Leo 
money  is  rubbish  (II  325 ;  465 ;  497),  as  it  was  to  Lassalle. 

Other  happenings  of  the  latter 's  life  can  be  pointed  out  as 
being  reflected  in  these  novels  when  we  take  into  account  Spiel- 
liagen's  habit,  especially  in  his  earliest  works,  of  denoting  his- 
torical persons  by  names  resembling  their  real  ones,^  and  employ 
this  as  a  key  for  finding  the  names  of  persons  used  as  models 
and  their  connection  with  the  great  agitator.  LassaUe's  name 
itself  would  seem  to  have  furnished  those  of  the  heroes  of  the 
novels  under  consideration.  Thus  we  surmise  Ferdinond  became 
Bernhordt  and  Zassalle  Leo,^  Ferdinand  Lassalle  being,  so  to 
speak,  the  common  root  of  Bernhardt  Miinzer,  the  hero  of  DvH 
and  Leo  Gutmann,  that  of  IRuG.  The  countess  Sophie  Hatz- 
feldt,  who  was  the  dominant  influence,  the  fate  of  LassaUe's  life 
and  whom  he  declares,  as  late  at  July,  1864,  to  be  necessary  to 
his  existence,  appears  as  Antome  von  Hohenstein  in  DvH,  and 
it  seems  to  us  that  after  the  same  principle  the  name  Hohenstein 
springs  from  the  combination  of  H(atzfeldt  and  Sch)6nstein. 
The  latter  was  an  estate  of  the  Hatzfeldts  oh  the  Rhine,  the 
farmers  of  which,  in  November,  1848,  were  urged  by  Lassalle  to 
take  up  arms  when,  as  he  expected,  a  new  outbreak  of  the  revolu- 
tion should  take  place.  Appearing  as  Rheineck*  in  DvH,  it 
allows  Miinzer  and  his  friends,  under  the  protection  of  Antonie, 
to  pursue  their  revolutionary  plans.  Although,  according  to  the 
Almanach  de  Gotha,  Hohenstein  is  part  of  the  princely  family 
name  of  Sayn-Witgenstein,  our  assumption  seems  to  be  sup- 
ported by  the  fact  that  Miinzer  fights  against  the  principle  repre- 
sented by  the  Hohensteins  as  Lassalle  does  against  that  of  the 
Hatzfeldts.*  Of  other  names  occurring  in  the  novels  only  that  of 
Ferdinand  Lippert  need  here  be  mentioned.  We  recognize  in 
him  the  Indentanturrat  Fabrtce,  who,  after  having  in  vain 
challenged  Lassalle,  attacked  him  unexpectedly  in  the  Tiergarten 
at  Berlin  in  May,  1858,  and  met  with  a  very  successful  defense 
on  his  part.  Ferdinand's  attack  on  Leo  (I  532-35)  occurs  under 
similar  circumstances  and  with  the  same  results. 

LassaUe's  personality  itself  is  easily  recognized  in  those  of  our 
heroes.    Besides  being  the  model  for  many  traits  in  the  drawing 


iHenning,  1.  c.  p.  211-12. 

2  Cp.,  however,  below  p.  105. 

3  Cp.  below  p.  29  ff. 

*  The  name  of  a  castle  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  between  Bonn  and  Coblenz. 


14 

of  the  intellectual  and  moral  natures  of  Miinzer^  and  Leo,  hia 
outward  appearance  has  served  the  novelist.  Especially  in  the 
description  of  the  face,  both  novelist  and  biographers  agree  if 
we  disregard  the  little  difference  that  Leo  has  brown  eyes  instead 
of  the  dark  blue  eyes  of  Lassalle  and  Miinzer.^  Oncken  describes 
the  head  of  Lassalle  as  that  of  Goethe  translated  into  the  Semitic 
(p.  341),  in  "Freigeboren"  (p.  290),  it  is  the  head  of  Caesar, 
and  to  others  the  agitator  looked  the  personification  of  defiance 
but  as  carrying  so  much  energy  on  his  face  that  it  would  have 
surprised  nobody  if  he  had  conquered  a  throne.^  So  Miinzer's 
haughty  imperious  eyes  accord  with  his  face,  behind  the  forehead 
of  which  "his  kingdom"  lies  (166)  ;  they  are  filled  with  his  great 
mind  and  courage  (298).  From  Leo's  forehead  shine  forth  the 
marks  of  great  original  thoughts  (I  265)  ;  like  Lassalle,  he 
attracts  attention  because  he  looks  different  from  others,  some- 
thing beyond  the  ordinary,  which  greatly  commands  respect,  lies 
in  his  face  (I  316;  68).  But  poetical  considerations  have, 
caused  the  novelist  to  ascribe  to  his  heroes  figures  which  one  is 
apt  to  fancy  the  leaders  of  men  should  have.  Lassalle,  accord- 
ing to  a  police  description  of  1848,  was  only  5  feet  6  inches  tall 
and  of  a  slender  figure.  The  heroine  of  "  Freigeboren "  (290) 
speaks  of  his  height  although  she  qualifies  it  by  slenderness. 
Miinzer  has  a  mighty  form,  broad  shoulders  and  a  high-arched 
chest,  so  that  one  would  have  liked  to  imagine  him  at  the  head 
of  a  troop  impelled  to  throw  themselves  irresistibly  upon  the 
hostile  batteries  (298).*  Leo,  too,  has  a  powerful  physique.  It  is, 
however,  not  strong  enough  to  carry  the  burden  of  his  work  and 
must  be  fortified  by  medicaments,  just  as  Lassalle 's  vigorous 
nature,  always  mistreated,  needed  frequent  refreshing.  His 
voice,  too,  has  for  the  same  reason  been  changed  into  the  soft 
low  voices  of  Miinzer^  and  Leo.    For  the  voice  of  the  historical 


1  But  also  the  personality  and  life  of  J.  G.  Kinkel  have  furnished  the  author 
material  for  his  novel.  When  Spielhagen  and  his  friend,  Carl  Schurz,  wer^ 
attending  the  University  of  Bonn,  Kinkel  held  the  chair  of  literature.  The 
Intimate  relation  which  sprung  up  between  Kinkel  and  Schurz  is  reflected  in 
the  friendship  of  Miinzer  and  Wolfgang  von  Hohenstein.     Cp.  below  p.  39 ;  55. 

2  Miinzer  wears  a  black  beard.  Carl  Schurz  says  in  his  Lebenserinnerungen, 
Berlin,  of  Kinkel :  "Unter  seiner  von  schwarzem  Haupthaar  beschattetea 
Stim  leuchtete  eln  paar  dunkler  Augen  hervor,  deren  Feuer  selbst  durch  eine 
Brille  nicht  gedampft  wurde.  Mund  und  Kinn  waren  von  einem  schwarzea 
Vollbart  umrahmt." 

3  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  11. 

4  Schurz,  1.  c.  "Kinkel  war  ein  auffallend  schoner  Mann,  von  regelmassigen 
Gesichtsziigen  und  von  herkulischem  Korperbau,  iiber  6  Fuss  gross,  strotzend 

yon   Kraft." 

5  Schurz,  1.  c.  "Kinkel  besass  eine  wundervolle  Stlmme,  zugleich  stark  und 
weich,  hoch  und  tief,  gewaltig  und  riihrend  in  ihren  Tonen,  schmeicheind  wie 
die  Flote  und  scbmetternd  wie  die  Posaune,  als  umfasste  sie  alle  Register  der 
Orgel." 


15 

agitator  was  in  every-day  speech  high  pitched  and  shrill;  he 
stammered  also  slightly.  When  he  appeared  in  public  these 
defects,  however,  were  not  noticeable,  his  voice  sounding  strong 
and  beautiful.^ 

But  there  are  also  many  diversities  both  in  the  drawing  of 
character  and  in  the  narration.  We  have  remarked  on  Spiel- 
hagen's  understanding  of  his  poetical  office.  He  did  not  assume 
the  role  of  the  historian  when  he  undertook  to  write  novels  on 
the  modern  life  of  his  country.  The  novelist  is  to  him  a  poet 
and  a  preacher,  a  pedagogue,  an  agitator.  Consequently  the 
poetical  conception  is  with  him  in  many,  if  not  aU,  instances  com- 
bined with  the  purpose,  the  "Tendenz."  Beside  historical  facts 
or  a  series  of  historical  events,  clearly  and  chronologically  ren-; 
dered  in  our  novels,  others  are  found  arranged  in  conflict  with 
chronology  or  intermingled  with  fiction.  ViThile  the  sickness  of- 
the  king  and  the  Southern  war,  for  example,  are  placed  at  the 
close  of  Leo's  career,  they  stand  historically  a;t  the  beginning,  of 
-Lassalle's  epochal  political  activity.  Leo's  duel,  which  was  to 
put  an  end  to  his,  and  the  accompanying  circumstances  furnish  a 
good  example  for  the  way  in  which  the  novelist  blends  in  some 
cases  facts  with  fiction.  Spielhagen  makes  use  of  Lassalle's  duel 
in  all  its  details.  But  the  narration  of  Leo's  presents  a  very 
different  picture.  The  parts,  so  to  speak,  of  this  tragedy  are' 
completely  changed.  Ferdinand  challenges  Leo  principally  be- 
cause he  considers  him  his  successful  rival  in  the  affection  of  the 
girl  he  loves  and  thus  plays  the  part  of  Lassalle.  But  Leo  cares 
nothing  for  her  nor  has  he  the  passion  for  his  fiancee  which  the 
historical  Democrat  felt  for  Helene  von  Donniges,  who,  of  semi- 
Jewish  extraction,  in  her  way  of  thinking  and  willing,  in  her 
passion — she  would  speak  of  Lassalle  as  "Mein  Adler,"  which 
term  is  also  used  in  IRuG  I  512 ;  II  106 — and  in  her  fickleness 
is  evidently  the  model  for  the  drawing  of  Emma  von  Sonnen- 
stein.  The  passion  to  which  Lassalle  gives  expression  in  his  let- 
ters to  his  friends  and  the  Countess  Hatzfeldt  and  which  he 
proved  by  his  actions  is  refiected  in  LeO's  love  for  Silvia 
(II  550).  This  flames  up  like  that  of  Lassalle  and  makes  him 
forget  to  care  for  the  success  of  his  political  work  and  future. 
With  Lassalle  the  thoughts  of  his  new  party,  just  formed,  politics 
and  studies  pale.    His  mind  is  concentrated  on  finding  the  means 

1  "Frelgeboren,"  p.  290 ;  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  93. 


16 

to  recapture  the  girl  who  has  given  him  up,  and  Leo's  whole 
aims  are  directed  to  win  his  cousin  when  she  has  refused  him. 
When  Lassalle  at  last  sees  that  all  his  efforts  are  in  vain  his  love- 
madness  and  vanity  turn  into  the  only  feeling  he  can  have  now 
because  of  his  nature,  the  desire  to  revenge  himself  on  his  suc- 
cessful rival,  and  Leo,  after  Silvia's  death,  has  this  same  feeling 
in  a  pronounced  way.  He  is  also  sure,  like  Lassalle,  that  he  shall 
kill  his  adversary,  but,  nevertheless,  he  enters  the  duel — one  of 
the  seconds  is  Baron  von  Kerkow  (II  608),  who  may  correspond 
to  Colonel  Riistow,  who  assisted  Lassalle  in  his  duel — like  the 
latter  to  whom  the  words  of  Miinzer  about  himself  would  seem 
to  apply — a  remarkable  prophesy  on  the  part  of  Spielhagen — 
namely,  that  he  wished  in  an  honorable  and  fixting  way  to  leave 
this  world,  because  of  the  unhappiness  in  his  heart  and  the  in- 
ability to  subdue  the  storm  he  had  aroused  (574-75).^  Some 
other  minor  correspondences  and  differences  in  the  narration  of 
this  duel,  showing  how  the  author  combined  facts  and  fiction, 
must  be  passed  by  here. 

On  the  other  hand,  where  it  would  seem  as  though  the  novelist 
gave  fiction  pure  and  simple,  instead  of  historical  facts,  a  closer 
examination  may  prove  that  it  is  but  a  poetical  dress  covering 
actions  and  thoughts  of  Lassalle.  This  is,  for  instance,  the  case 
in  Leo's  position  towards  the  king  and  his  alliance  with  the 
representative  of  the  church. 

The  greatest  differences  are  found  naturally  where  the  purpose 
of  the  novelist  required  a  change  of  the  historical  data.  While  the 
intellectual  qualities  of  Lassalle  could  be  fittingly  introduced  in 
the  novels,  whether  by  making  him  an  author — ^Miinzer  has  writ- 
ten books  (118)  and  poems^  and  Leo's  pamphlets  will  occupy  our 
attention  more  fully — or  as  possessed  of  the  gift  of  a  "stupend- 
ous" presence  of  mind  and  quickness  of  repartee — Leo  (II  132; 
142,  etc.)  ;  Miinzer  (316-17,  etc.) — the  moral  traits  of  his  charac- 
ter have  found  in  parts  a  different  expression.  Again,  for  the 
same  reason,  thoughts  or  speeches  of  Lassalle  have  in  Spiel- 
hagen some  times  an  aspect  under  which  they  were  not  ut- 
tered actually,  or  they  are  assigned  purposes  by  which  Lassalle 
was  not  governed.  It  is  evident  that  the  novelist  intended  these 
changes,  for  he  shows  even  here  his  remarkable  intimacy  with 


1  Cp.  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  171. 

2  Kinkel  was  also  a  poet.     Cp.  below  p.  163. 


17 

Lassalle's  life  and  political  activity.  The  more  the  political- 
social  work  of  the  great  Democrat  is  in  question,  the  greater  are 
the  differences  between  Spielhagen's  narration  and  history. 

An  examination  into  the  correspondences  and  discrepancies 
existing  between  the  novels  and  the  political-social  work  of 
Lassalle,  therefore,  must  lead  to  a  better  understanding  of  the 
purpose  of  Spielhagen  in  writing  these  novels.    For  these  novels 
mean  after  all  the  author's  balancing  accounts  with  Lassalle ; they 
are  his  agitation  for  the  means  he  has  to  propose  for  the  solution 
of  the  social  problems  in  opposition  to  him.     Such  an  examina- 
tion has  also  a  practical  value.    There  was  a  time  when  these  two 
great  agitators  stood  rather  low  in  the  estimation  of  the  majority 
of  their  German  fellow-citizens  after  their  first  great  successes. 
When  we  put  in  the  place  of  the  shibboleth  ' '  The  living  Lassalle 
against  the  dead  Schulze-Delitzsch, "  under  which  J.  B.  von 
Schweitzer  continued  the  work  of  the  great  socialistic  Democrat, 
the  cry  "The  living  Lassalle  against  the  dead  Marx,"  which  is 
more  frequently  uttered  in  Germany  today — on  February  8, 
1911,  for  the  first  time  in  the  Reichstag,  the  national  attitude  of 
some  social  democrats  was  proved  by  the  fact  that  their  repre- 
sentatives in  the  budget  committee  did  not  vote  against  an  in- 
crease of  the  army,  an  act  which  strict  partisans  of  Marx  would 
never  have  performed — we  can  point  out  also  the  evident  fact 
that  Spielhagen  today  again  finds  a  juster  appreciation.     Not 
only  have  those  younger  talents  who  in  the  eighties  and  nineties 
of  the  past  century  pronounced  themselves  the  literary  adver- 
saries of  our  novelist  learned  from  him  in  many  points,  but  a 
large  number  among  them  frankly  admit  their  indebtedness  to 
him  for  what  he  taught  them  in  literary  art.    The  present  gen- 
eration is  ready  to  judge  rightly  his  great  and  many  merits.^ 

In  examining  Lassalle's  political-social  activity  as  it  appears 
in  DvH  and  IRuG,  however,  in  showing  its  correspondences  and 
differences  and  giving,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  explanation  for 
the  latter,  it  will  not  always  be  possible,  unless  the  wording  war- 
rants it,  to  state  with  absolute  certainty  that  all  correspondences 
which  appear  to  have  their  sources  in  the  works  of  Lassalle  have 
actually  been  drawn  from  them.  Many  thoughts  are  found  in 
Lassalle's  words  and  in  the  novels  which  had  been  uttered  be- 
fore him  and  were  the  common  property  of  his  time.^    In  some 


1  Hennlng.  1.  c.  p.  163  ;  207-8. 
«Cp.  e.  g.  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  224-26. 


18 

eases  we  shall  be  surprised  to  see  that  Spielhagen  by  dint  of  a 
remarkable  gift  of  divination  or  because  of  first-hand  informa- 
tion, has  recorded  thoughts  of  the  great  Democrat  before  they 
were  published  or  discovered  by  historians  of  a  later  date,  and 
that  he  expresses  as  motives  for  certain  actions  forces  which  over 
against  older  opinions  are  aflSrmed  by  the  newest  investigations. 
In  a  few  eases  we  piust  be  satisfied  with  merely  pointing  out  cer- 
tain parallels. 


The  Political  Life  and    Works  of  Ferdinand 

L,assalle  as  a  Source  for  ^^Die  von  Ho- 

henstein'  and  ^*In  Reih  und  Glied,'' 


Influences  Determining  the  Cabeers  op 
Lassall£,  Munzeb  and  Leo. 

1. 

Hermann  Oneken  in  writing  the  biography  of  Lassalle  starts 
out  from  the  principle  that  Tie  time  of  youth  in  which  a  person- 
ality develops  in  unrestrained  naturalness  offers  the  key  for  the 
understanding  of  the  later  man  of  letters  or  politics,  inasmuch 
as  it  contains  those  general  and  lastingly  active  premises,  every- 
thing which  depends  on  extraction,  moral-intellectual  pre-dispo- 
sition,  the  influence  of  family  and  bringing  up,  on  the  political 
atmosphere  of  the  State  and  public  sentiment,  in  fact,  the  whole 
sum  of  influences  under  which  an  individual  is  formed.  Forty 
years  before  the  biographer  of  Lassalle  undertook  his  work, 
Spielhagen  gave  on  the  same  principle,  especially  in  the  case  of 
Leo,  an  admirable  drawing  of  the  influences  which  determined 
the  development  of  our  two  heroes  in  their  youthful  years  and 
spurred  them  on  to  devote  their  lives  to  the  cause  of  their  peo- 
ple. If,  roughly  speaking,  we  can  say  that  certain  dominant 
traits  in  Lassalle 's  intellectual-moral  make-up,  the  wrongs  and 
injustice  of  social  conditions  which  he  himself  suffers  or  sees 
others  undergo,  and  socialistic  teachings  have  led  him  to  that 
political  activity  which  was  to  secure  his  prominent  position  in 
history,  the  very  same  influences  are  quite  fully  reflected  in  the 
novels,  though  not  in  the  same  degree,  in  each  of  the  two  princi- 
pal figures.  While  Miinzer  is  compelled,  because  of  his  own 
sufferings  and  the  bad  social  conditions  of  the  majority  of  his 
fellow-men,  to  attempt  the  uplift  of  his  people,  it  is,  less  Leo's 
own  misery  than  some  pronounced  traits  of  his  character  and  the 


20 

influence  of  persons  with  whom  he  comes  into  contact  that 
determine  his  career.  But  in  respect  to  intellect,  temperament 
and  character  Miinzer  and  Leo  are  the  alter-egos  of  Lassalle 
wherever  Spielhagen's  tendency  or  poetical  requirements  did 
not  necessitate  some  different  drawing. 

2. 

Heinrich  Heine,  in  his  letter  to  Vamhagen  von  Ense,  men- 
tioned above,  praises  the  young  Lassalle,  who  had  just  made  his 
first  trip  to  Paris,  for  his  eminent  intellectual  gifts,  for  the  most 
thorough  learning,  most  extensive  knowledge,  greatest  sagacity, 
and  the  richest  talent  for  expression  that  he  ever  found.  How 
rightly  the  poet  judged  the  young  student,  both  the  learned 
works  and  smaller  writings  of  the  adult  sufficiently  attest.  Las- 
salle was  endowed  with  abilities  which  even  in  branches  where 
he  was  but  an  autodidact  surpassed  by  far  those  of  the  average 
specialist.  With  his  great  gifts  of  intelligence  and  learning  was 
combined  an  eloquence  that  charmed  every  one.^  Even  Bismarck 
could  not  throw  off  this  charm  of  Lassalle 's  personality;  he 
declared  in  the  Reichstag  September,  1878,  that  he  always  re- 
gretted the  end  of  his  interviews  with  this  "so  energetic  and 
intelligent"  man  although  they  lasted  for  hours.^  The  same 
gifts  are  Miinzer 's  and  Leo's.  Miinzer  is  extraordinarily 
talented,  a  savant  and  a  speaker  who  carries  every  one  with  hira 
(66;  481),"'  and  Leo,  whose  father,  unable  to  understand  the 
world,  studies  himself  blind  that  his  son  may  acquire  the  greatest 
knowledge,  is  so  "awfully"  learned  that,  young  as  he  is,  he  is 
ready  to  be  promoted  to  the  highest  class  of  the  Gymnasium  at 
any  time  (15).  He  is  expected  to  accomplish  something  great 
in  life  (I  25),  and  makes  good  when  he  enters  on  his  political 
career  by  impressing  the  people  because  of  his  surpassing  knowl- 
edge and  manners  of  the  world  (I  280;  365).  He  is  endowed 
with  a  keen  penetrating  mind,  a  clear  understanding  and  an 
always  active  brain  (I  13;  103).  A  master  of  language,  the  boy 
knows  how  to  shape  his  words  so  finely  and  pointedly  that  it  is 
diflScult  to  get  the  better  of  him   (I  185),  a  gift  of  Lassalle 's 


1  Freigeboren,  p.  290. 

2  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  72 ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  342 ;  349. 

3  So  was  Kinkel.     Cp.  the  account  of  his  plea  in  Scburz's  Lebenserinnerungen, 

and  below  p.  69  notes  4  and  5. 


21 

which  his  adversaries  in  politics  or  at  his  trials  sufficiently  ex- 
perienced.   Leo  learns  easily,  for  he  is  a  genius  (I  49;  51). 

But,  precocious  scholar  that  he  is,  he  studies  because  he  knows 
that  knowledge  is  power  (I  30),  and  only  a  means  to  attain  some 
ends.  This  corresponds  exactly  with  Lassalle's  attitude  toward 
learning.  It  is  true,  no  man  ever  had  a  deeper,  more  unselfish 
and  enthusiastic  interest  in  learning  and  literature  than  he. 
But  at  the  same  time  he  was  made  for  that  learning  which  stands 
in  the  service  of  progress  and  revolts  against  everything  that  is 
supported  only  by  authority,^  and  he  saw  in  the  possession  of 
this  learning  a  key  which  might  open  him  the  road  to  power. 
His  love  of  power,  which  manifested  itself  from  an  early  date, 
when  he  lorded  it  over  the  members  of  his  family^,  to  the  last 
moments  of  his  life  when  he  writes  that  it  is  an  absolute  necessity 
with  him  that  whoever  stand  near  him  be  merged  into  his  will,^ 
in  union  with  a  deep  passion  for  glory  and  honor,  with  the  desire 
to  be  admired  and  praised,  with  a  mania  for  display,  sought  a 
field  when  he  became  a  man.  All  his  strength  and  weakness  were 
concentrated  in  the  impetuous  longing  to  rise  above  the  common 
crowd  and  to  stake  his  all  for  the  highest.  Fame.  Bismarck 
later  testified  to  the  largeness  of  the  ambition  which,  like  fire, 
consumed  Lassalle.  It  was  a  thirst  for  fame  which,  with  all 
positive  efforts,  must  always  think  of  itself  and  create  a  noisy 
mise  en  scene.  But  despite  this  unpleasant  admixture  it  was  the 
ambition  of  a  great  personality,  ^  which  manifested  itself  also  in 
Lassalle's  study  of  Heraclitus.  In  the  Greek  philosopher  he 
found  the  herald  of  fame  which  only  the  best  of  mortals  prefer 
to  all  other  things.  But  Heraclitus,  in  whose  nature  there  was 
storm,"  was  also,  because  of  this  very  same  trait  congenial  to 
LassaUe,  the  impetuous  apostle  of  the  present  time,  as  Brandes 
calls  him,  and  his  "glowing"  heart,  passionate  soul,  proud  and 
fiery  temper  are  also  Miinzer's.  Miinzer,  always  striving,  con- 
tending, is  driven  by  ambition  and  the  thought  of  that  happiness 
and  reward  which  are  found  in  the  thousandfold  applause  with 
which  a  grateful  people  leads  its  tribune  from  the  forum  into 
the  senate  (151)  ;  and  the  passionate,  impetuous  Leo  who  has 
the  ambition  to  do  great  things  (I  11)  has  in  his  career  nothing 

1  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  12 ;  11 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  424. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  103. 

*^7"V°Bd^Il"443^^*^  Herakleitos  des  Dunklen  von  Ephesos.     Berlin.  185T, 


22 

to  lose  but  the  fame  among  his  contemporaries  and  posterity, 
fame  which  the  poet  (Heraclitus?)  calls  the  highest  of  all  earth- 
ly goods  (II  488).  Proud  and  haughty  (18),  feeling  in  early 
youth  like  a  man  (I  12)  who  knows  what  he  is  doing  (I  147) 
and  shows  more  intelligence  and  energy  than  most  men  ( I  147 ) , 
he  cctobines  this  passionate  hunger  for  recognition  (I  109)  with 
the  lust  for  power,  but  in  contrast  to  that  of  Lassalle  it  is  a  long- 
ing for  power  which  has  been  planted  in  him  by  the  tyrannic 
hand  of  his  father,  who  has  brought  him  up  to  become  rich  and 
powerful,  to  drive  before  him  the  rabble  of  village  boys  like  a 
flock  of  sheep   (I  29). 

For  reaching  the  goal  of  his  ambition,  Lassalle  was  well  pro- 
vided with  a  pronounced  self-reliance,  a  belief  in  the  power  of 
his  mind  to  overcome  all  obstacles,  with  a  restless  impulse  to  act, 
a  want  of  consideration  which  attacks  the  goal  without  fearing 
an}'^  resistance  or  shunning  any  means,  ^  with  a  will  that  seemed 
to  seek  the  greatest  difficulties  only  to  remove  them  from  his 
path^  and  a  tenacity  which  resisted  to  the  uttermost  any  effort  to 
drive  him  from  ground  on  which  he  once  had  put  his  foot.^  A 
man  of  iron  will  Miinzer  is,  too,  who  shows  an  indefatigable 
energy  in  living  for  his  work  (276-77;  460)  ;  he  is  conscious  of 
the  power  of  his  mind;  the  only  forces  with  which  he  rules  are 
those  of  the  kingdom  which  lies  behind  his  forehead,  between  the 
narrow  waUs  of  his  skull  (166).  He  feels  in  himself  also  the 
necessity  and  impulse  to  act  and  work  upon  a  large  scale  (410), 
and  to  urge  his  friends  to  do  likewise  (124).  He  wishes  for 
danger  that  he  may  rush  into  it  (278),  against  the  advice  of 
his  circumspect  friends.  Miinzer 's  desire  to  work  on  a  large 
scale  is  shared  by  Leo  (I  11).  He  does  not  want  to  acquire 
knowledge  for  himself.  He  wants  to  use  it  in  the  interest  of 
others ;  he  wants  to  become  learned  to  teach,  strong  to  help,  and 
wise  to  counsel  others.  He  has,  to  accomplish  this,  Lassalle 's 
energy  which  could  gain  anything  by  using  his  enormous  in- 
tellectual powers  ad  hoc^  He  knows  his  strong  personality  and 
is,  like  his  prototype,  not  impressed  forcibly  by  any  haughty 
looks  (I  367)  ;  he  feels  an  unlimited  power  within  him,  it  seems 
to  him  as  if  he  has  only  to  will  to  move  mountains.     As  his 


1  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  11 ;  24 ;  30 ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  23 ;  93. 

2  P.  A.  Liange,  Die  Arbeiterfrage.    1879.    p.  248. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  371. 


23 

father  is  going  to  die  ere  long  he  must  make  his  way  alone 
through  this  world ;  he  wants  it — and  he  will  accomplish  it ;  not 
for  himself,  for  he  does  not  think  of  himself.  He  has  the  will 
to  learn  English  and  to  inure  himself  to  the  great  sun-heat  to  be 
endured  when  he  shall  prea6h  the  gospel  among  the  heathen  in 
the  desert  (I  11;  10;  57).  For  he  has  the  intention  to  become 
a  preacher  of  the  Lord  and  to  proclaim  the  message  of  joy  and 
peace,  eternal  peace.  What  he  does  is  only  a  means  to  this  great 
end.  He  would  like  to  be  the  Pope  or,  at  least,  the  general  of 
the  Jesuits,  in  order  to  do  on  a  large  scale  what  others  do  on  a 
small  one  and  in  detail  (I  11).  What  the  boy  promised  iie 
fulfills  in  the  days  of  manhood.  His  energy  compels  him  to  en- 
dure the  hardships  of  the  weather  (I  351),  to  go  resolutely  on  to 
reach  the  high  aims  he  seeks,  and  to  remove  vigorously  the 
obstacles  from  his  path  or  to  turn  them  skillfully  (I  299).  In 
this  desire  to  work  for  the  great  public  a  reflection  may  be  found 
of  Lassalle's  individuality  which  prevented  him,  like  Miinzer 
(732),  from  becoming  the  shy  scholar,  who  with  complacent  smile 
declares  his  study  to  be  his  world,  or  from  seeing  in  learning  and 
scientific  work  his  only  true  purpose  of  life,  and  made  him  strive 
for  an  influential  position  of  his  own  in  a  great,  practical-political, 
reformative  activity.  Passionate,  imperious,  like  Miinzer  (164), 
a  kind  of  titanic  nature  for  whom  combat  is  the  native  element,^ 
Ijassalle  believed  himself  to  be  called  to  be  one  of  the  spiritual 
leaders  of  his  nation,  one  of  those  great  reformers  who,  by  pro- 
claiming and  disseminating  new  ideas,  bring  about  great  revolu- 
tions, great  progresses,  new  epochs  in  the  history  of  the  world.^ 

3. 

A  man  of  the  moral-intellectual  nature  of  Lassalle  might  be 
expected  to  turn  his  activities  in  the  direction  where  he  could 
find  relief  for  his  own  dissatisfaction  with  the  social  conditions 
imder  which  he  lived.  Free  from  the  miserable  cares  of  the 
poor,  he  was  the  child  of  a  race  which  had  been  emancipated  only 
in  a  certain  measure  in  consequence  of  the  enlightment  of  the 
eighteenth    century.      Common    equality    of    men,    depending 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  431. 

2  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  12. 


24 

neither  on  religious  creed  or  descent,  nor  social  standing,  as  real- 
ized through  the  French  revolution,  had  been  carried  in  the 
train  of  the  victories  of  Napoleon  into  German  countries  and 
was  partly  retained  there  after  the  fall  of  the  French  empire. 
When,  during  the  Restauration,  the  old  historic  forces  of  state, 
society  and  church  again  became  effective,  and  in  Prussia 
especially.  Romanticism  sat  on  the  throne  and  publicly  showed  in 
unroyal  invectives  its  hostility  to  tlie  Jews^,  their  emancipation 
produced  sharp  contrasts  within  the  social  body,  above  all  in  the 
East  whence  Lassalle  had  come.  The  tendencies  of  the  half  or 
wholly  emancipated  Jews  opposed  themselves  as  negative  and 
decomposing  forces  to  the  strengthened  historical  forces  which, 
in  return,  took  a  more  hostile  attitude  toward  Jewish  emancipa- 
tion. These  Jews  became  atheistic  and  materialistic,  and  politi- 
cally preferred,  and  strove  for,  a  cosmopolitism  which  succeeded 
better  in  a  Napoleonic  world-empire  than  in  a  world  of  people 
who  had  been  fortified  by  a  national  uprising.  Their  most  ad- 
vanced elements  became  radicals.  They  worked  for  an  improve- 
ment of  their  social  conditions  in  connection  with  the  Liberal 
parties  of  opposition  to  whom  their  efforts  were  sympathetic  as  a 
part  of  the  general  bourgeois  struggle  for  freedom  from  what  had 
remained  of  feudal  institutions  and  police  tutelage,  and  they 
hoped  for  the  influence  of  the  French  July  revolution  upon  the 
German  States  and  for  the  complete  emancipation  of  the  Jews 
who,  in  Prussia,  v/ere  still  excluded  from  official  state,  academic 
and  school  positions.  Their  common  Conservative  opponents, 
however,  insisted  on  the  Christian  character  of  the  State  and 
found  their  support  in  that  instinct  of  hostility  towards  the 
Jews  which  pervaded  the  large  masses  as  well  as  many  of  the 
most  intellectual  of  the  Prussian  upper  classes. 

This  attitude  of  the  Conservatives,  especially  that  of  the 
"Junkers,"  who  looked  down  on  the  Jew  with  sovereign  con- 
tempt,^ is  excusable  in  that  the  many  social  evils  in  city  and 
country  showed  the  Jew  in  a  different  light  than  that  which  the 
Liberals  assumed.  There  had  been  hardly  any  social  emancipa- 
tion, especially  in  the  East.  Here  the  Jews  had  not  adapted 
themselves  to  the  intellectual  and  moral  culture  of  their  christian- 


1  Th.    Ziegler,    Die   geistigen    und    sozialen    Stromungen    des    19.     Jahrhuaderts, 
Berlin  1910.     p.  550. 

2  Ziegler,  1.  c.  p.  557. 


25 

German  surroundings  and  were,  under  their  thin  varnish  of 
German  nationality,  not  more  advanced  than  their  Russian  rela- 
tives. They  were-  still  given  to  usury  and  cheating,  to  money, 
and  were  under  the  influence  of  everything  which  presupposes 
such  occupation,  to  use  words  of  Marx  from  1843.  It  is  from  this 
sphere  tliat  Lassalle  came,  his  family  standing  still  very  low  in 
German  civilization.  The  more,  however,  the  progressive  Jews 
took  part  in  the  general  economic  and  cultural  rise  of  the  middle 
class,  in  a  word  became  Germanized,  the  more  keenly  they  felt 
the  pressure  of  social  disrespect  from  which  they  could  not 
emancipate  tliemselves  equally  quick,  and  it  was  only  natural 
that  from  among  them  should  come  the  large  number  of  recruits 
who  worked  for  the  revolution  of  1848.^  How  deeply  Lassalle 
himself  felt  the  pressure  of  public  hostility  to  the  ^ews  and 
suffered  under  this  social  injustice  is  evident  from  the  confession 
found  in  the  diary  of  the  boy  of  14.  He  writes :  "I  could  risk 
my  life  to  rescue  the  Jews  from  their  oppressive  conditions.  I 
should  not  fear  even  the  scaffold  if  I  could  make  them  an 
esteemed  people  again.  It  is  always  my  favorite  idea,  with  arms 
in  my  hands  at  the  head  of  the  Jews  to  make  them  independent.  * ' 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  such  pronounced  Jewish  wishes  and 
thoughts  were  not  conducive  to  smoothing  Lassalle 's  path  at 
school.  Indeed,  his  Jewish  character  and  manners  made  him, 
despite  his  talents,  very  much  disliked  by  everybody  while  at- 
tending the  Gymnasium  at  Breslau,  his  native  city.  The  jeering 
hints  at  his  descent  made  him  disgusted  with  school.  He  did 
everything  to  escape  this  "horrible"  position.  He  made  up  his 
mind  to  become  a  merchant,  but  with  ^he  firm  determination  to 
devote  himself  more  to  the  Muses  than  to  business ;  to  think  more 
of  liberty  than  of  the  prices  of  the  goods ;  to  curse  more  violently 
the  dogs  of  aristocrats  who  rob  man  of  his  first  and  highest  good 
than  competition  which  spoils  the  prices.  "Aber  beim  Ver- 
wiinschen,"  he  writes,  "soils  nicht  bleiben."  He  changes  to  a 
commercial  school  at  Leipzig,  but  here  he  has  the  same  experi- 
ences. He  is  on  the  worst  terms  possible  with  teachers,  students 
and  even  with  the  people  in  his  boarding-house;  and  that  for 
the  very  same  reasons. 


J  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  4-11. 


■■^ 


26 

But  here  in  Leipzig  a  new  period  of  Lassalle's  development 
sets  in.  He  continues  his  cursing  of  the  Christians  and  expresses 
his  belief  in  the  nearness  of  the  time  when  the  Jews  will  advance 
by  shedding  the  blood  of  their  enemies.  He  swears  eternal 
hatred  against  teachers  and  classmates  who  have  become  his 
adversaries.  But  it  is  here  at  Leipzig  that  Lassalle,  without  giv- 
ing up  thinking  and  feeling  as  a  Jew,  strips  off,  because  of  his 
distance  from  the  Jewish  atmosphere  of  Breslau,  the  most  pro- 
nounced traits  of  the  Jew.  He  begins  to  acquire  German  culture, 
and  his  thoughts  are,  as  a  matter  of  course,  guided  by  the  writ- 
ings of  those  German-Jewish  authors  who  in  literature  and  poli- 
tics gave  the  true  expression  to  the  general  feeling  of  opposition. 
It  is  in  Leipzig  that  Lassalle,  during  the  summer  of  1840,  absorbs 
the  radical  thoughts  of  the  time  by  reading  Heine  and  Borne  and 
thus  furnishes  his  own  thoughts  with  a  much  more  definite  con- 
tent. His  slumbering,  political  instincts  are  feverishly  awak- 
ened, and  his  diary  is  filled  now  with  bloody  tirades  against 
princes  and  tyrants  and  aristocrats.  While  they  express  a  pure 
genuine  feeling  they  voice  a  passionate  opposition  to  any  kind  of 
oppression  which  he  himself  feels  in  the  barriers  erected  by  his 
descent.  He  intends  to  become  a  journalist  in  order  to  send  forth, 
like  Leo,  from  Paris,  the  land  of  Liberty,  as  did  Borne,  the  word 
to  all  nations,  and  all  princes  shall  chatter  with  their  teeth  and 
see  their  time  has  come  .  .  .  with  the  thrones  prejudices  must 
break  .  .  .  Such  pronounced  revolutionary  republican  senti- 
ments are  sometimes  in  conflict  with  strong  leanings  toward 
aristocracy,  however.    He  writes  July  19,  1841 : 

"Ware  ich  als  Prinz  oder  Fiirst  geboren,  ich  wiirde  mit  Leib 
und  Leben  Aristokrat  sein.  So  aber,  da  ich  bloss  ein  schlichter 
Biirgersohn  bin,  werde  ich  seinerzeit  Demokrat  sein."  But  four 
weeks  later  he  adds :  ' '  Aber  nein,  ich  will,  obwohl  ich  auch  dazu 
Talent  hatte,  kein  feiger  Hofschranze  werden.  Ich  will  den  Vol- 
kern  die  Freiheit  verkiinden,  und  soUte  ich  auch  im  Versuche 
untergehen.^  Ich  schwore  es  bei  Gott  under  den  Stemen,  und 
Fluch  mir,  wenn  ich  je  meinem  Schwur  untreu  werde." 

A  short  time  before  this  was  entered  in  his  diary,  Lassalle  had 
an  interview  with  his  father  to  obtain  his  permission  for  pre- 
paring himself  for  a  journalistic  career  at  the  University  of  his 


1  Cp.  below  p.   47  ;    104. 


27 

home  city.  "For  now  is  the  time  in  which  one  fights  for  the 
holiest  objects  of  mankind."  When  his  father  expresses  his 
grief  at  his  son,  the  only  hope  of  his  parents,  becoming  a  martyr, 
he  answers : 

"Wenn  jeder  so  sprache,  so  feig  sich  zuriickzoge,  wann  wiirde 
dann  ein  Kampfer  aufstehen?  Warura  soil  ich  gerade  znm 
Marty rer  werden?  Weil  Gott  mir  die  Stimme  in  die  Brust 
gelegt,  die  mich  aufruft  zum  Kampfe,  weil  Gott  mir  die  Kraft 
gegeben,  ich  fiihle  es,  die  mich  befahigt  zum  Kampfe.  Weil  ich 
fiir  einen  edlen  Zweck  kampfen  und  leiden  kann.  Weil  ich  Gott 
um  die  Kraft,  die  er  mir  zu  bestimmten  Zwecken  gegeben,  nicht 
betriigen  will.  Weil  ich  mit  einem  Wort  nicht  anders  kann.  Der 
Vater  will  mich  studieren  lassen  und  wehrt  mir  die  heilige 
durchwehende  Idee,  die  er  Liberalismus  nennt.  Als  wenn  nicht 
gerade  sie  es  ware,  die  mich  zum  Studium  treibt,  sie,  um  die  ich 
kampfen  will,  und  ohne  die  ich  lieber  geblieben  ware,  was  ich 
bin. "  It  is  clear  that  this  confession  in  his  diary  shows  Lassalle 
at  this  period  of  his  development  as  none  but  a  partisan  of  the 
large  Old  Liberalism  which  contained  in  its  folds  everything 
which  meant  freedom  of  mankind.^ 

Still  more  important  factors  entered  Lassalle 's  life  after  his 
return  to  Breslau,  where,  in  the  shortest  time  and  with  the 
greatest  energy,  he  prepared  himself  for  the  University.  The 
political  life  of  the  city  was  anything  but  quiet.  The  city  gov- 
ernment had,  in  the  provincial  House  of  Representatives,  recom- 
mended a  summoning  of  imperial  estates,  but  the  king  on  a  visit 
to  Breslau  had  declared  that  no  power  on  earth  could  force  him 
to  give  his  consent.  The  oppositional  temper  of  the  people  was  in- 
creased by  an  economic  distress  of  an  extent  so  far  unheard  of  in 
Prussia,  which  was  setting  in  in  Silesia.  The  dreadful  misery  in 
the  homes  of  working  men  in  the  casemates  of  Breslau  became 
public  concern,  and  the  hunger  and  want  of  the  Silesian  weavers, 
which  was  to  lead  in  April,  1844,  to  a  bloody  uprising,  showed 
that  the  forces  of  old  Prussia  failed  almost  completely  in  the  face 
of  new  social  questions.  What  till  then  had  been  only  personal 
opposition  to  the  structure  of  society  from  the  viewpoint  of  a 
Burpressed  and  despised  race,  was  broadened  into  a  deeper  un- 
derstanding of,  and  interest  in,  general  economic  conditions  on 


1  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  18. 


28 

the  part  of  Lassalle.  It  gave  the  background  for  all  his  insur- 
gent temper,  which,  after  having  for  the  first  time  experienced 
the  conservative  forces  of  the  State  (when  it  was  about  to  ex- 
clude him  from  taking  the  "Abiturientenexamen"  on  account  of 
his  having  voiced  very  radical  opinions  in  his  German  essay), 
was  to  find  new  nourishment  on  his  entering  the  University  and 
becoming  a  member  of  a  Burschenschaft.  This  students'  club 
was  very  radical.  Social  questions  were  frequently  discussed, 
although  without  prejudice  and  class-hatred.  To  the  time  of 
his  membership  in  this  Burschenschaft  Lassalle  later  traced  his 
first  socialistic  views. 

A  still  greater  factor,  however,  was  to  lay  its  hold  on  him  in 
his  University  days.  He  came  under  the  influence  of  that  mind 
which  was  to  shape  his  whole  thinking  to  the  last  of  his  life.  The 
philosophy  of  Hegel  and  the  radical  consequences  for  science  and 
politics  which  his  disciples  drew  from  the  teachings  of  their 
master  gave  Lassalle 's  public  activity  its  character.  The  mastery 
of  Hegelian  dialectics,  although  it  plunged  him  from  one  self- 
deception  into  another  and  represented  to  him  a  world  existing 
only  in  his  thoughts,  gave  him  at  the  same  time  his  firm  belief  in 
himself  and  an  infinite  strength  for  the  political  contest  even 
when  this  was  hopeless,  as  during  the  last  years  of  his  life.  It 
was  of  a  nature  to  invite  Lassalle  to  shape  actual  conditions 
rationally  by  dint  of  his  thoughts,  and  influence,  consequently, 
the  political  life  of  the  present.  But  Hegel's  philosophy 
furnished  him  also  the  spiritual  contents  for  the  emancipation 
of  the  working  classes.^ 

A  political  and  philosophical  radical,  like  the  other  Jung- 
hegelians,  the  most  pitiless  critic  of  all  conditions  existing  in 
state  and  society,  Lassalle,  after  having  concluded  his  studies 
in  Berlin,  was  thinking  of  applying  for  admission  as  Privatdozent 
in  the  University  when  he  saw  all  human  rights  violated  in  the 
plight  of  a  stranger,  the  Countess  Hatzfeldt.  By  nature  made 
to  live  and  act  on  a  large  scale.  Destiny  takes  hold  of  him  and 
throws  him  into  the  arena  of  public  life,  as  Miinzer  says  of  him- 
self (410).  Lassalle  recognizes  in  this  case  no  individual  casual 
event,  but  a  general  fate;  behind  this  " individuelles  Los  und 
Leiden,  welches  sq  innig  es  ein  individueller  Fall  nur  immer 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  24-25  ;  436  ;  100. 


29 

vennag,  gleich  einem  Mikrokosmos,  das  allgemeine  Leiden,  die  zu 
Grabe  gehende  Misere  und  Unterdriiekung  in  sieh  abspiegelt," 
the  abused  rights  of  humanity.  He  sees  in  this  affair  general 
points  of  view  and  principles  embodied ;  he  believes  that  there  is 
a  large  number  of  other  unfortunate  ones  who  sigh  under  the 
same  or  similar  miseries.  He  says  to  himself  that  the  countess 
is  a  victim  of  her  station  in  life ;  that  only  one  (her  husband)  in 
the  haughty  position  of  a  prince  and  millionaire  could  dare  com- 
mit without  fear  such  misdeeds,  such  wrongs  to  society  in  its 
moral  depth ;  what  power  false  pretense  is,  ' '  welche  f urchtbaren 
Gegner  Rang,  Einfluss  und  Reichtum  sind  und  sie  nur  stets 
AUianzen  finden  in  den  Reihen  der  Biireaukratie. '  '^  He  searches 
for  the  social  cause  of  the  wrong  and  directs  his  attacks  against 
the  cause.  He  decides  upon  opposing  truth  to  false  pretense, 
right  to  class-distinction,  the  power  of  mind  to  that  of  money. 
And  since  youth,  "wie  sehr  auch  unsere'  Zeit  die  des  Egoismus 
sein  mag,  doch  zu  alien  Zeiten  das  Alter  der  Uneigenniitzigkeit, 
der  Begeisterung  und  Aufopferungsfahigkeit  gewesen  ist  und 
sein  wird,"^  he  follows  the  impulse  of  confronting  power  with 
inherent  right  and  rushes  into  the  fight. for  his  ideals. 

4. 

It  is,  then,  Lassalle's  o\^^l  suffering  under  a  social  differentia- 
tion on  account  of  his  being  the  child  of  a  race  which  was  still  felt 
to  be  foreign  matter  in  the  national  body,  his  acquaintance  with 
the  sufferings  of  others  for  reasons  which  sprang  also  out  of 
class-distinction  or  bad  economic  conditions,  and  lastly,  the 
studies  and  socialistic  influences  which  he  underwent  that 
shaped  his  intellectual-moral  qualities,  eager  to  find  a  field  for 
action  in  that  direction  which  should  make  him  the  eminent 
factor  he  is  in  the  political-social  development  of  Modern 
Germany.  When  we  separate  the  poetical  expression  from  the 
underlying  thoughts  we  find  that  Spielhagen  gives  the  same 
social  causes  for  determining  the  public  activities  of  Miinzer  and 
Leo. 

It  is  no  race  antipathy,  for  Miinzer  is  a  Catholic  in  a  pre- 
ponderatingly  Catholic  country,  but  his  birth  in  the  very  lowest 


30 

stratum  of  society  both  financially  and  culturally  which  lies  at 
the  bottom  of  his  political  development.  While  Lassalle,  as  the 
son  of  a  well-to-do  merchant,  was  at  least  materially  protected 
against  the  hardships  of  life,  Miinzer's  parents  were  poor  wine- 
growers (on  the  Eifel  plateau?)  who  passed  their  lives  sighing 
under  the  burden  of  heavy  baskets  in  which  they  had  to  carry 
loam  up  to  the  terraces  of  the  jagged  Schieferberg  that  yields 
every  second  or  third  year  a  small  harvest  of  miserable  grapes. 
They  died  of  hunger  and  sorrow  (166)  and  Miinzer  himself 
would  have  suffered  the  same  fate  if  the  priest  of  the  nearest 
village — the  only  true  priest  he  ever  knew — had  not  taken  charge 
of  him  like  a  father  and  shared  with  him  his  scanty  bread  and 
scanty  learning.  When  he  could  teach  the  boy  nothing  more 
he  sent  him  (to  Koln?^)  to  school  with  a  blessing  and  the  part- 
ing words  that  he  would  fare  well  if  he  always  remained  pious 
and  industrious.  In  the  city  Miinzer  becomes  the  butt  of  his 
schoolmates  who  are  economically  better  situated;  the  elegant 
Junkers  and  well-fed  sons  of  merchants  mock  at  him,  they  call 
him  the  "  Eifel- wolf , "  because  he  is  so  haggard  and  hollow- 
eyed  and  his  clothes  threadbare  and  patched.  Thus  class-dis- 
tinctions as  the  outward  expression  of  an  unjust  differentiation 
of  society  lie  as  heavily  on  Miinzer  as  they  lay  on  Lassalle.  At 
times  he  feels  very  ' '  wolfish ; ' '  human  society  appears  to  him  as 
a  large,  fat,  stupid  flock  which  he  hates  with  the  grim  hatred  of 
a  wolf  hungry  for  revenge. 

His  economic  misery  causes  him  to  leave  piety  to  itself  and 
pay  more  attention  to  industry,  and  in  observing  the  bad  actions 
of  men  after  he  has  lost  his  belief  in  the  existence  of  a  God  or  a 
devil,  whom  he  might  hold  responsible  for  their  wicked  actions, 
he  says  to  himself  that  if  men  are  bad  through  themselves  they 
can  be  good  through  themselves,  and  if  they  are  not  good,  the 
cause  of  human  wickedness  may  be  found  and  must  be  sought 
in  deeply  hidden  sores  of  state  and  society,  for  the  existence  of 
which  not  the  individual  who  shares  in  them  unwittingly  and 
against  his  will,  but  mankind  collectively  is  responsible  (167). 
And  these  sores  he  sees  in  the  division  of  the  people  of  the 
century  into  two  very  unequal  parts,  in  the  many  called  and  the 
few  selected,  in  the  knowing  and  the  ignorant,  in  priest  and 


1  Below  p.  40. 


31 

laity.  Relinquishing  all  happiness  so  far  as  he  is  concerned,  he 
takes,  like  Lassalle,  a  holy  oath  to  devote  himself  to  the  greatest 
and  noblest  task  of  closing  the  dark  and  frightful  gap  which 
opens  in  the  midst  of  us  like  that  legendary  abyss  in  the  Roman 
Forum  and  which,  like  this,  can  only  then  be  filled  up  when  we 
throw  our  most  precious  treasures  into  it;  when  we  use  our 
noblest  powers  of  mind  and  heart  to  reconcile  men  and  make 
what,  after  all,  is  still  the  exclusive  property  of  a  few,  the  com- 
mon property  of  all  (167-68) . 

Lassalle,  too,  has  applied  this  legendary  abyss  to  social  ques- 
tions when,  in  his  historic  drama,  "Franz  von  Sikkingen" 
(Berlin,  1859),  he  voices  through  the  mouth  of  Ulrich  von  Hut- 
ten  his  opinion  that  the  gap  which  rends  the  century  can  be 
closed  only  by  the  best  men  throwing  their  lives  into  it/  Evi- 
dently this  drama  had  quite  an  influence  on  Spielhagen  when 
he  wrote  DvH  as  will  be  shown  later,  and  when  we  consider  a 
passage  in  a  speech  of  Lassalle  of  January  16,  1863,  held,  there- 
fore, before  the  publication  of  DvH,  in  which  he  says : 

"Sind  Sie  so  sicher,  dass  nie  wieder  eine  politische  Erschiit- 
terung  zuriickkehren  wird  ?  WoUen  Sie  dann  wieder  Leben  und 
Eigentum  in  der  Hand  (of  thoughtless  and  ignorant  agitators 
as  in  the  spring  of  1848)  wissen?  Wenn  nicht,  so  danken  Sie 
den  Mannern,  die  sich  der  Arbeit  gewidmet  haben,  jenen 
Abgrund  auszufiillen,  welcher  wissenschaftliches  Denken  und 
wissenschaftliche  Sprache  von  dem  Volke  trennt, — danken  Sie 
jenen  Mannern,  welche  auf  Kosten  ihrer  eigenen  geistigen 
Anstrengungen  eine  Arbeit  iibernommen  haben,  deren  Resultate 
dann  Ihnen  alien  und  jedem  einzelnen  von  Ihnen  zugute  kom- 
men !  Speisen  Sie  diese  Manner  auf  dem  Prytaneion — und  stel- 
len  Sie  sie  nicht  unter  Anklage,"  it  would  seem  that  Spielhagen 
was  influenced  by  Lassalle^  to  represent  Miinzer  in  the  beginning 
of  his  career  as  intent  on  closing  the  gap  between  the  knowing 
and  the  ignorant  rather  than  between  rich  and  poor,  as  both  the 
drama  and  the  passage  just  quoted  have  more  intellectual  ethical 
aims  than  economic  ones.  It  is  only  in  Miinzer 's  later  develop- 
ment that  his  socialistic  aims  become  manifest.   , 


1  Brandes  1.  c.  p.  75. 

2  "Die  Wissenschaft  und  die  Arbeiter."  Zurich  1863.  p.  24.  Oacken,  1  c  p 
251.  Cp.  a  similar  passage  in  "Die  indlrekte  Steuer  und  die  Lage  der  'ar- 
beitenden  Klassen,"  Oncken.  p.  365.    This  speech,  however,  was  delivwed  only 


Oct.  12.  1863. 


32 

In  order  to  heal  the  sores  of  state  and  society  Miinzer  be- 
comes a  revolutionary  agitator.  He  has  surely  heart  enough  to 
be  touched  by  the  pictures  of  poverty  and  misery  which  daily 
meet  his  eyes,  and  to  be  tortured  by  the  hoarse  voices  of  hunger 
and  sorrow  which  resounded  even  around  his  cradle  (730-31). 
Yet  he  knows  nothing  of  such  a  deep  love  as  to  the  last^  bound 
Lassalle  and  the  members  of  his  family  to  one  another  and  is 
driven  to  better  social  conditions  less  by  noble  enthusiasm  and 
love  for  his  fellow-men  than  is  his  prototype,  even  if  the  latter 
had  some  additional  motives.  He  applies  himself  not  from  love 
of  knowledge  and  power,  like  Lassalle,  but  principally  from 
ambition  which  makes  him  bear  hunger  and  the  mockery  of  his 
schoolmates;  he  perseveres  from  the  wish  to  become  omniscient, 
to  have  the  power  to  revenge  himself  for  this  mockery,  and  in  his 
political  activity  he  is  led  by  the  interest  of  the  physician  in  the 
patient.  His  love  for  his  fellow-man  does  not  spring  from  his 
heart  but  from  his  mind  and  reason  (168).  In  spite  of  his  needy 
financial  condition  (44)  he  lives  henceforth  for  the  realization 
of  his  ''Idea" — as  a  Hegelian  like  Lassalle.'- 


In  comparison  with  Miinzer,  poverty  and  actual  suffering 
through  overbearing  social  classes,  economically  better  situated, 
play  hardly  any  role  in  determining  the  political  career  of  Leo, 
although  he  and  his  cat  did  sometimes  vie  with  one  another  in 
hungering  (I  33).  It  is  chiefly  the  sphere  of  his  family  and 
social  intercourse  with  others  which  exercise  a  deciding  influence 
in  this  respect.  Spielhagen  has  given  a  very  poetical  description 
of  Leo's  youth.  The  passionate,  gifted  boy  grows  up  under  the 
tyrannical  hand  of  his  father  whose  many  projects  have  never 
brought  him  success  (I  15 ;  26 ;  29 )  and  who  wants  his  son  to 
attain  where  he  has  failed.  He  loves  Leo  and  tyrannizes  over 
him  unwittingly  and  unintentionally  (I  47 ) .  But  the  son  is  not 
aware  of  the  love  his  father  bears  him  after  all.  He  has  not  the 
feeling  towards  him  which  reminds  Lassalle,  even  a  month  before 
his  death,  of  the  time  when  he  was  on  the  Rigi  with  his  parents, 
* '  with  my  most  faithful  friend  of  all,  my  poor  father  who  is  gone 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  237  ;  422. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  28.     Kinkel,  too,  speaks  of  the  "Idee."     Cp.  the  account  of  his^ 

plea  In  Schurz's  Lebenserinnerungen. 


I^V^T^V- 


33 

now, "  as  he  writes  to  the  countess  July  22,  1864,  and  when  torn 
by  passions  he  misses  the  mild,  warning,  consoling  voice  of  a 
mother  (I  184).  ►  He  is  left  to  himself  and  his  thoughts;  for  he 
believes  himself  not  understood  by  his  relatives  and  still  he  hun- 
gers for  love  and  recognition.  So  he  becomes  a  lonely,  serious 
and  taciturn  boy,  which  is  in  direct  contrast  to  Lassalle.^  For 
the  great  Democrat  belongs  among  those  great  men  who  have, 
during  their  whole  lives,  something  boyish  about  them,  and  his 
"Lassen  Sie  uns  Cypernwein  trinken  und  schone  Madchen 
klissen ' '-  was  not  merely  a  rhetorical  phrase  at  his  trial,  October 
12,  1863.  As  Miinzer  is  described  as  avoiding  rather  than  seeking 
company  in  spite  of  his  ardent  temper  and  his  longing  for.  com- 
munication (378),  so  Leo  is  said  to  feel  no  need  of  friendship,^ 
intimate  communication,  cheerful  intercourse  or  love  (I  351). 
He  is  different  from  others  and  accustomed  to  be  alone  and,, 
therefore,  wants  to  be  alone  (I  316).  He  feels  himself  a 
stranger  among  his  own  people,  even  when  he  defends  their 
honor  (I  31;  252;  94). 

So  it  would  seem  as  if  the  novelist  had  given  here  a  picture 
of  the  youth  of  his  hero  in  complete  disagreement  with  his  model. 
But  after  all,  if  we  consider  that  Lassalle  would  very  likely  not 
have  become  the  historical  figure  of  so  many  incongruities  in 
his  personality,  had  he  sprung  from  a  different  sphere — for,  as 
Oncken  rightly  remarks,  the  great  men  of  Germany  have  come 
from  other  homes — then  Spielhagen's  poetical  picture  is  not  so 
far  from  truth  as  it  might  seem.  For  the  roots  of  Leo's  fail- 
ings, as  we  shall  observe  later,  lie  essentially  not  only  in  the  in- 
fluences which  the  atmosphere  of  his  immediate  family  effected 
on  the  formation  of  his  character,  but  the  conditions  of  his  home 
cause  him  also  to  seek  one  field  after  another  for  his  talents 
which  will  have  room  for  action,  and  bring  him  at  last  under  the 
power  of  that  man  who,  as  the  mind  of  Hegel  led  Lassalle  on 
his  radical  way,  becomes  Leo's  instructor  in  political  science. 
Moreover,  the  intermediate  steps  leading  to  Leo's  susceptibility 
for  this  most  determining  i^nfluence  were  apparently  suggested 
to  the  novelist  by  Lassalle 's  uevelopment.  Leo,  not  having  found 
that  love  and  recognition  for  which  he  craves,  is  seized  by  a  de- 

1  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  12. 

^  ^/Vr^r^'^'o^  ^?^"^J^'  ^^-    .Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  365.     Cp.  Harms.  1.  c.  p.  80;  IRuG 
comp^iy.  ?    149^°  Oncken's  account  of  G.  Keller's  meeting  Lassalle  and  his 


34 

sire  to  sanctify  himself  for  the  great  work  for  which  he  knows 
he  has  been  created  (I  109)  ;  he  seeks  to  attain  this  sanctifica- 
tion  by  courting  solitude,  or  in  community  with  souls  who  are 
of  his  mind,  or  by  a  life  given  over  to  the  study  of  good  books 
(I  110).  His  disappointment  begins  when  he  does  not  receive 
the  visible  sign  as  proof  of  his  being  called  to  the  great  mission 
for  which  he  has  been  praying  in  church.  He  feels  deserted  by 
God  and,  like  Miinzer,  seeks  consolation  by  applying  himself 
more  zealously  to  his  work  (I  112-13).  But  he  ends  by  losing 
his  religious  belief  altogether  when  he  has  come  under  the  bad  in- 
fluence of  the  heartless  sophistical  minister  who  preaches  love 
but  does  not  live  by  it,  the  sweetness  of  Christian  faith  but  has 
none  of  it.  For  the  minister  who  later  occupies  one  of  the  high- 
est church  positions  thinks  that  this  faith  is  not  for  those  who 
see  through  the  true  connection  of  things  but  for  the  rabble, 
because  it  is  the  best  means  to  preserve  the  natural  and  divine 
law  that  the  strong  and  wise  and  intelligent  shall  rule  the  weak 
and  ignorant  and  stupid  ( I  115 ) .  A  radical  change  takes  place 
in  Leo,  who  henceforth  considers  paradise  only  a  beautiful  child- 
ish dream,  and  this  change  puts  him  into  a  receptive  state  for 
the  new  songs  of  social  revolution.  It  seems  that  all  this  is  but 
the  poetical  expression  of  Lassalle's  fervent  Judaism  which 
urges  him  to  take  up  arms  for  his  race,  of  his  coming  under  the 
influence  of  advanced  German-Jewish  writers  with  their  atheism 
and  materialism  which  allowed  him  as  a  young  man  of  20  to  tell 
Heine  that  he  was  an  atheist,^  and  lastly,  of  his  development 
under  socialistic  influences  during  his  student  days  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Breslau. 

For  this  coming  under  socialistic  influences,  this  entering  the 
service  of  the  "Idea"  (I  193)^  is  also  the  meaning  of  Tusky  in 
the  life  of  Leo.  Wliat  the  latter  has  lost  through  the  hypocriti- 
cal preacher,  an  ideal  object  for  his  life,  he  gains  through  him, 
the  "Damon  des  armen  Volkes,  dessen  Jahrhunderte  langer 
Schrei  nach  Brot  und  wieder  nach  Brot,  Jahrhunderte  lang  ver- 
haUt  ist"  (I  155).  Tusky  suffers  with  the  misery  of  life 
(I  131),  he  hates  the  race  of  nobles  who  live  on  vanity  and 
selfishness    and    resemble    the    thistles    that    claim   the   whole 


1  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  14. 

■2  Cp.   above  p.   2S  ;    ?.: 


35 

ground  for  themselves.  The  nobility  is  to  blame  for  the  dire 
poverty  that  causes  aU  the  suJffering  in  his  family  and  village 
(I  132).  In  savage  times  the  warrior  caste  became  the  highest 
and  at  last  suppressed  the  whole  people  so  successfully  that  only 
a  few  have  kept  the  memory  of  their  being  of  the  same  material 
as  the  nobleman.  What  the  nobility  as  the  propertied  classes 
give  in  food  and  clothes  to  the  slaves  who  serve  them,  is  only  the 
interest  on  the  capital  which  they  have  taken  from  them.  They 
have  caused  all  the  misery  which  essentially  lies  in  the  difference 
existing  between  the  possessing  and  not-possessing,  between  the 
rich  and  poor,  a  difference  which  is  much  greater  than  that  of 
religion  or  race,  and  can  be  effaced  only  by  making  the  rich  re- 
turn the  capital  they  have  (I  134).  When  there  will  be  no 
wealth  there  will  be  no  poverty.  This  was  the  intention  of 
Christ;  but  with  pious  wishes  nothing  will  be  accomplished. 
Earthly  means  will  have  to  be  used  (I  165).  For  the  Govern- 
ment, too,  and  the  church  do  nothing  for  all  the  wretchedness 
but  beiug  the  expression  of  a  wise  despotism  they  enslave  body 
and  soul,  and  the  Liberals  are  unable  to  alleviate  the  economic 
suffering.  Their  charity  plays  are  some  of  the  plasters  with 
which  they  attempt  to  close  up  the  purulent  wound  (I  190)  and 
their  soup,  sick  and  other  societies  are  the  meager  instalment 
payments  which  will  not  cancel  the  gigantic  debt  which  has 
accumulated  in  the  course  of  so  many  centuries  ( I  195 ) . 

Tusky  recognizes  in  Leo  a  character  with  talents  which  may 
serve  well  his  ends  of  a  practical  solution  of  the  social  questions. 
He  feels  that  his  young  friend  is  called  to  do  great  things  and 
that  his  temperament  is  ready  for  action  in  that  direction 
(I  196;  194).  He  will  proclaim  a  new  gospel  to  those  who  hun- 
ger for  that  justice  which  gives  every  one  his  due  and  does  not 
wait  patiently  till  the  loveless  rich  are  pleased  to  become  charit- 
able, but  knows  how  to  take  with  firm  hand  where  and  when  it  is 
necessary  (I  155).  He  acquaints  Leo  with  social  questions  by 
giving  him  newspapers  and  pamphlets  (I  141)  to  read  and  the 
latter  sees  now  that  it  is  a  dreadful  state  of  affairs  when  the 
nobleman  eats  lamprey  from  golden  dishes  and  the  peasant  can 
be  glad  when  he  has  salt  with  his  dry  bread ;  when  the  game  in 
the  forests  and  in  the  fields,  which  God  has  created  for  all  men, 
belongs  only  to  one  person,  while  others  have  the  permission  to 


36 

fatten  it  with  the  sweat  of  their  brows  for  the  table  of  my  Lord. 
Tusky  informs  Leo  also  on  the  slaughter 'of  the  peasants  which 
took  place  here  in  their  country  during  the  sixteenth  century, 
to  rid  him  of  his  belief  in  the  good  in  human  nature  and  to  initi- 
ate him  in  the  great  struggle  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  which 
will  last  as  long  as  this  difference  shall  exist  (I  149-50).  He 
impresses  Leo  deeply  by  his  instruction  and  arouses  in  him  the 
desire  to  die  for  the  sake  of  liberty  (I  152).  But  Tusky  wants 
Leo  to  live  for  this  sacred  aim.  For  the  memory  of  the  peasant 
wars  is  not  extinguished  among  the  people  of  the  villages.  Tus- 
ky, with  the  aid  of  the  Bundschuh,  the  sign  on  the  flag  around 
which  the  peasants  of  the  sixteenth  century  gathered  to  fight 
against  knights  and  priests,  still  known  among  the  villagers,  tries 
to  awaken  among  them  also  the  memory  of  their  strength  which 
they  might  use  to  become  free,  and  he  works  for  a  revolution,  a 
task  which  he  has  pledged  his  life  to  fulfill  because  all  mankind 
is  involved  in  it  (I  155).  Leo  is  also  shown  the  wretched  life 
which  the  villagers  live  from  among  whom  Tusky  comes,  a  life 
which  makes  beggars  and  thieves  and  creates  sickness  and  ignor- 
ance (I  157-59).  His  eyes  are  opened  to  the  sad  conditions 
around  him.  What  he  has  been  thinking  to  be  his  own  mis- 
fortune he  learns  to  recognize  as  the  sad  plight  of  a  whole  class, 
a  whole  people  (I  135).  He  sees  that  time  has  other  problems 
to  solve  than  the  composing  of  poems  (I  144).  Tusky  has 
rescued  him  from  the  labyrinth  of  his  wretched  doubts  (I  156), 
he  has  told  Leo  of  the  bravery  of  the  heroes  of  the  peasant  wars 
who  sacrificed  themselves  for  the  freedom  of  their  people.  Leo 
resolves  on  devoting  himself  to  the  study  of  the  serious  questions 
of  the  time,  to  find  out  the  real  causes  of  the  frightful  wounds 
with  which  the  body  of  the  State  suffers  and  to  discover  the 
remedies  even  if  they  should  consist  in  fire  and  iron  (I  145).^ 
Likewise,  in  the  manner  of  Lassalle,^  he  takes  an  oath  to  be  faith- 
ful until  death  to  the  interest  of  the  poor  (I  155). 


1  Cp.  Lassalle's  expressions  of  violence  below  p.  79. 

2  Above  p.  26. 


37 


Cidui 


II. 

Bernhardt  Munzer,  the  Revolutionist. 

X 

\ 

1. 

Spielhagen,  as  Brandes  justly  remarks,  was  led  by  a  right  feel- 
ing and  an  admirable  thought  in  making  Leo  grow  up  with  ac- 
counts of  the  German  peasant  wars.  These  revolutionary  move- 
ments played  a  prominent  role  in  the  ideas  of  the  radical  demo- 
crats of  1848,  who,  however,  must  not  be  confounded  with  the 
oppositional  constitutional  party.  Although  not  active  political- 
ly, Spielhagen,  during  his  stay  at  Bonn,  no  doubt,  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  opinions  of  the  Eadicals  as  they  were  voiced  in 
the  "Neue  Rheinische  Zeitung,"  especially  by  Karl  Marx  and 
Friedrich  Engels.  Lassalle,  too,  was  deeply  interested  in  those 
revolutionary  movements  of  the  sixteenth  century;  he  studied 
them  thoroughly,  and  his  historical  drama,  "Franz  von  Sikkin- 
gen,"  was  one  of  the  results  of  these  studies.  It  was  pointed 
out  above  (p.  7;  9)  that  Spielhagen  followed  with  interest  every- 
thing relating  to  Lassalle — he  attended  even  court  trials  at  Ber- 
lin of  the  Democrat  of  which  he  gives  an  example  in  "Freige- 
boren,"  (p.  296) — and  it  was  also  shown  above  (p.  31)  that  he 
described  Miinzer  as  devoting  himself  to  his  work  with  thoughts 
that  correspond  almost  literally  with  those  of  Hutten,  the  figure 
of  the  drama,  whom  its  author,  as  he  writes  later,^  has  made  the 
mirror  of  his  soul.  The  novelist  must  have  been  well  informed 
also  concerning  Lassalle 's  opinion  on  the  peasant  wars. 

There  are  a  number  of  reminiscences  of  these  wars  in  DvH. 
Bernhardt  Munzer  is  compared  to  his  unfortunate  namesake, 
Thomas  Miinzer.  Like  this  leader  of  the  peasants,  he  has  worked 
himself  through  the  trash  of  scholastic  learning  to  the  religion 
of  liberty  (44),  and  although  a  Catholic  by  birth  and  education 
(66),  is  an  enemy  of  every  dogma.  In  his  great  plea  he  re- 
proaches with  the  failure  of  the  revolution  the  weaklings  and 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  116. 


38 

cowards,  these  drones  of  society,  who,  as  early  as  three  centuries 
ago,  did  nothing  but  look  on  while  the  nobility  with  fire  and 
sword  suppressed  the  most  rightful  insurrection  the  world  ever 
saw  when  the  unfortunate  slave,  bound  to  the  soil,  rose  in  fierce 
wrath  against  his  noble  torturer  (733).  Many  thoughts  of 
Thomas  Miinzer  are  uttered  in  the  novel  by  progressive  liberal 
persons.  He  had  very  little  regard  for  the  rites  of  the  Catholic 
Church  and  attacked  all  vital  points  of  the  Christian  faith.  Al- 
most like  a  modem  pantheist  he  saw  in  reason  the  real  revela- 
tion, in  faith  but  the  commencement  of  life  of  reason  in  man. 
Through  faith  of  such  a  nature  man,  even  a  heathen,  becomes 
godlike  and  is  saved.  He  believed  that  heaven  is  not  to  be  found 
in  the  hereafter  but  the  kingdom  of  God  must  be  erected  here  on 
this  earth.  Christ,  he  said,  was  a  man  like  us,  and  there  is  no 
devil  but  the  evil  lust  and  desires  of  man  (Cp.  DvH  67-68;  70; 
302;  646,  etc.).  In  agreement  with  these  religious  views  stands 
his  social  program,  a  society  without  class-distinction,  without 
the  right  of  inheritance  and  without  a  government  alien  to  the 
members  of  the  social  body.  It  is  also,  with  the  exception  of  the 
second  point,  the  program  of  Bernhardt  Miinzer.  He  fights  for  a 
republic  and  against  the  ruling  classes  because,  privileged  as 
they  are,  they  pass  lightly  over  the  miseries  of  narrow,  oppressive 
conditions  (411)  instead  of  bringing  about  a  social  and  political 
reform.  They  do  nothing  to  help  against  poverty  and  wretched- 
ness (730-31)  and  permit  the  callous  hand  to  be  exposed  to  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather  (734).  They  withhold  from  the  poor 
the  inheritance  which  is  their  due  and  prevent  the  gospel  of 
salvation  from  being  realized  here  on  this  earth,  from  which  all 
our  joys  and  sorrows  spring  and  which  is  our  fatherland  in  every 
sense  (300).  They  want  to  preserve  the  old  folly,  the  power  of 
unprogressive  religious  faith  and  the  old  privileges  which  make 
equality  and  brotherhood  among  men  an  object  of  mockery  and 
derision.  Bernhardt  Miinzer 's  program  is,  when  we  consider 
that  the  religious  and  social  views  of  Thomas,  as  given  above, 
were  expressed  in  the  Neue  Rheinische  Zeitung,  consequently 
also  that  of  the  Radicals  of  1848.^ 

But  it  would  seem  that  the  novel  DvH  contains  also  some  other 
matter  which  reminds  us  of  Lassalle  's  drama  more  directly  than 

1  Fr.  Bngels,  Der  deutsche  Bauernkrieg.     Neue  Rheinische  Zeitung.  Heft  5  ;  6. 
pp.  21  ff. 


39 

those  already  mentioned.  Miinzer's  friend  and  follower  Wolf- 
gang reflects  at  the  sight  of  the  Eberburg  (sic)  on  the  eyes  filled 
with  enthusiasm  which  centuries  ago  looked  from  the  battlements 
of  the  castle  into  the  future  which  now  has  become  the  present 
(633),  and  in  the  first  act  of  Lassalle's  drama,  Hutten  on  his 
flight  finds  shelter  in  the  Ebernburg,  the  "home  of  justice,"  the 
castle  of  Sikkingen,  and  the  two  friends  of  political  and  spiritual 
freedom  are  united,  while  in  the  closing  scenes  Hutten  takes 
charge  of  winning  the  knight  over  to  join  the  peasants  in  their 
uprising,  i.  e.  of  making  use  of  the  democratic  forces  just  as 
W^olfgang  and  his  party  of  revolutionists  do  at  the  close  of  the 
novel.  Such  a  weighty  point  as  this  for  the  influence  of  the 
drama  on  the  novel  seems  to  be  also  the  creation  of  the  ethical 
tigure  of  the  poor,  yet,  after  all,  so  rich,  schoolmaster  Balthasar. 
His  namesake  in  the  drama,  who  is  the  keenest  politician  in  the 
book,  warns  Sikkingen  against  the  attempt  to  deceive  the  enemy 
and  counsels  him  to  show  his  own  banner  unfurled  if  he  would 
vanquish.  So  also  the  schoolmaster  speaks  against  deceiving  the 
children  by  teaching  a  false  religion  and  believes  it  better  to 
teach  that  there  is  no  God  whom  they  can  offend  but  Humanity, 
which  they  offend  by  not  loving  and  helping  it  (67-68).  He  has 
overcome  the  tempter  in  himself  just  as  the  figure  in  the  drama 
is  created  by  Lassalle  to  overcome  the  knightly  old  Adam  in  Sik- 
kingen, as  the  author  expresses  it.^ 

We  are  prompted,  therefore,  to  ask.  Has  Spielhagen  in  describ- 
ing the  class  struggle  in  his  novel  DvH  been  influenced  by  the 
opinion  of  the  radical  democrats  who  saw  in  the  revolution  of 
1848  a  counterpart  of  the  revolutionary  movements  of  the  Refor- 
mation time,  and  does  he  owe  anything  to  Lassalle's  interpreta- 
tion of  these  movements  as  it  has  found  expression  in  his  drama  ? 

2. 

In  its  idea  the  novel  DvH  continues  Spielhagen 's  "Problem- 
Jitische  Naturen"  which  in  closing  depicts  the  Berlin  street  fights 
of  March  18,  1848 ;  it  gives  an  echo  of  1848  and  the  South  German 
revolution  of  1849.  The  novelist  takes  his  readers  to  the  Rhine- 
lands,  the  center  of  the  political  movements  he  relates.     Rhein- 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  126. 


40 

stadt  may  stand  for  Koln,  because  the  city  is  said  to  have  a  large 
cathedral  (82)  which  would  remind  the  reader  of  Cologne,  and 
consequently,  the  Rheinstadtisehe  Zeitung  would  appear  to  take 
the  place  of  the  Cologne  Gazette  (549).  Some  historic  scenes, 
which  were  acted  in  Bonn,  therefore,  have  been  transferred  to 
Cologne.^ 

The  novelist  pictures  a  political-social  struggle  of  progressive 
elements  with  the  reactionary-conservative  who,  after  the  March 
revolution  of  1848,  are  again  gaining  the  ascendency.  If  he  had 
not  characterized  the  nobility  and  military,  the  ruling  classes  in 
DvH,  equally  unjustly  in  other  works  one  might  be  tempted  to 
say  that  he  intended  to  illustrate  the  opinion  which  Lassalle  later 
voiced  in  his  "  Arbeiterprogramm "  (p.  25)  concerning  the  upper 
classes.  The  great  Democrat  becomes  there  a  great  demagogue, 
who,  in  order  to  flatter  the  working  classes,  raises  against  the  up- 
per strata  of  society  accusations  of  such  sweeping  extent  as  to,  be 
absolutely  untrue.  For  rather  than  opposing  daily  for  their  own 
interest  everything  which  is  good  and  great,  they  have  shown 
over  and  over  again  in  the  course  of  history  that  they  knew  how 
to  put  their  class  interest  aside  for  the  sake  of  the  commonweal. 
Also  Lassalle 's  assertion  of  the  immorality  of  the  well-to-do 
classes  as  a  logical  result  of  their  station  in  life  is  inexcusable.* 
At  all  events,  Spielhagen  agrees  with  the  Democrat  in  his  charac- 
terization of  the  upper  classes  in  his  novel  DvH  (cp.  312).^ 

The  conservative-reactionary  elements  are  represented  by 
types  from  the  nobility,  the  military  class  and  the  church,  higher 
officials  of  the  government  and  some  men  who  join  them  in  the 
interest  of  their  career  (313).  They  are,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
monarchists,  props  of  throne  and  altar.  The  officers  of  the  army 
are  men  of  noble  birth  and  combine,  therefore,  two  factors  mak- 
ing for  reaction.  Their  business  is  unconditional  subordination 
to,  and  blind  swearing  by,  the  paragraphs  of  the  army  regula- 
tions and  the  infallibility  of  the  war-lord.  He  who  acts  other- 
wise is  a  bad  officer,  disgraces  his  corps,  and  must,  therefore,  be 
cashiered  (453).  The  wish  and  order  of  the  war-lord  are  the 
soldier's  rule  of  conduct  in  action  and  refraining  from  action. 
He  is  responsible  to  no  one  in  the  world  but  to  the  war-lord  and 


1  Cp.  below  p.  50.      Note  1. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  220  ;  369.     Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  154. 

3  His  characterization   of   Reaction   is   to   a   great  extent  confirmed  by  Ziegler, 
Stromungen,  etc.  p.  283  f. 


^ 


41 

has  no  other  thought  than  to  live  and  die  for  throne  and  altar, 
these  two  most  sacred  things,  as  his  fathers  did  before  him 
(559-60).  Any  opposition  to  the  orders  and  commands  of  the 
most  gracious  king  and  lord  is  considered  by  the  military  an  act 
of  perfidy  and  treason  which  requires  the  quick  use  of  the 
sword.  Democratic  ideas  are  in  the  eyes  of  these  pretorians  the 
heresies  of  men  who  have  forgotten  God  and  broken  the  oath 
they  have  taken.  These  props  of  throne  and  altar  are  opposed 
to  the  damned  democrats  and  communists,  a  rabble  that  ought  to 
be  shot  down  with  cannon  balls  rather  than  to  be  treated  as  a 
party  with  which  it  is  advisable  to  negotiate  (30).  Even  the 
efforts  to  establish  a  constitutional  State  appear  to  them  a  hum- 
bug as  such  a  state  will  have  no  duration  (28).  Mere  songs  of 
Liberty  and  a  cheer  for  Schleswig-Holstein  or  a  future  German 
i-epublic  provoke  their  anger  (21). 

Whoever  outside  of  the  military  has  conservative  tendencies 
belongs  to  the  Constitutional  Club.  It  is  composed  of  all  who  do 
not  want  revolution,  and  its  members  range  from  the  strictly 
conservative  royalists  to  the  Liberal  bourgeois,  whose  second 
word  is  Constitution  (32).  Higher  officials  of  the  administration 
have  joined  this  Club  as  a  good  policy.  For  they  do  not  believe 
in  a  government  by  parliament  and  consider  the  whole  move- 
ment an  unnatural  product  imported  from  France  and  main- 
tained only  by  a  few  restless  minds.  German  unity  is  to  them 
only  a  dream  (31).  They  know  that  the  Germans,  in  spite  of  the 
presence  of  a  few  republicans,  are  loyal  monarchists  and  will  not 
lay  hands  on  their  kings.  They  believe,  too,  that  the  Radicals, 
mostly  empty  hot-headed  fellows,  cannot  replace  the  worn  wheels 
of  the  State-machine,  but  may  use  for  their  purpose  the  legal 
institutions  and  means  as  they  find  them  (302).  They  w^ant  a 
united,  mighty,  free  Germany  and  the  welfare  of  the  fatherland 
but  in  its  narrower  (Prussian)  meaning.  However,  this  can  not 
be  gained  rashly  (301). 

At  the  side  of  these  conservative-reactionists  stands  the  higher 
middle  class,  the  more  or  less  reactionary  bourgeois  (540),  al- 
though Liberalism  had  been  in  vogue  with  them  before  the 
revolution  (103) .  After  the  18th  of  March  they  show  themselves 
enemies  of  progress,  and  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  revolu- 
tion   (127),  being  opposed  to  French  conditions  in  Germany 


42 


(209).  They  are  in  the  majority  manufacturers  (578)  and  rely 
on  the  magnificent  army  and  the  most  high  war-lord  for  protec- 
tion against  the  radical  democrats  (580),  urging  the  use  of 
arms  or  of  bloodshed,  if  needed,  for  the  suppression  of  any  revolt 
or  for  extinguishing  the  flame  of  revolution  (576).  For,  al- 
though belonging  to  the  props  of  throne  and  altar,  most  of  them 
are  cowards  (133;  578;  580),  and  leave  that  job  for  the  brave 
army  to  do,  the  mainstay  of  throne  and  altar  and  the  domestic 
hearth  in  time  of  danger  (136).  The  Liberal  bourgeois  are  in 
the  minority.  They  have  a  better  understanding  of  the  signs  of 
the  time  and  see  that  the  only  way  to  peace  is  to  allow  the  demo- 
crats their  due  share  in  the  public  business,  thus  preventing  with- 
out use  of  force  a  new  bloody  uprising  (207-8;  578).  They 
champion  a  frank  and  honest  acception  of  the  revolution  and  its 
consequences  over-against  a  reaction  which  might  re-establish  the 
evils  of  the  ante-March  days  (209). 

As  the  majority  of  these  people  are  politically,  so  they  are  in 
respect  to  economic  questions  and  the  social  demands  of  the  pro- 
gressive democrats,  the  representatives  of  the  lower  middle  class 
and  workingmen.  The  nobility  and  the  military  are  the  ruling 
classes  par  excellence — ^the  higher  middle  class  taking  only  a 
secondary  position  in  DvH.  They  form  a  narrow-minded  caste, 
proud  of  their  descent  and  exclusive,  terming  as  plebeians  the 
classes  socially  beneath  them  (95;  102;  348).  As  the  main  sup- 
porters of  throne  and  altar  they  receive  from  these  two  powers 
help  when  needed.  Not  only  does  the  radical  priest  believe  that 
aristocracy  must  needs  exist  because  a  natural  law  demands  the 
government  of  the  bad  by  the  better  (416;  433),  but  the  most 
reverend  Prince  of  the  church  joins  the  king  in  the  opinion 
that  the  criminal  belonging  to  a  noble  family  which  has  furnished 
the  country  with  many  high  officers  of  the  army  and  of  govern- 
ment should  be  declared  innocent  by  the  court  (548).  The  king, 
for  the  same  reason,  pays  from  his  private  purse  the  debts  of 
certain  nobles,  since  these  can  not  be  expected  to  bear  alone  the 
consequences  of  their  frivolity  like  common  men  (96).  This 
ruling  class  has  the  enviable  privilege  of  disregarding  the 
miseries  of  economic  conditions  under  which  others  carry  their 
best  forces  to  their  graves  (411).  If  their  own  financial  affairs 
are  not  of  the  best  their  social  position  compels  them  to  sacrifice 


^>     43 

themselves  with  body  and  soul  to  the  idol  of  a  false  conception 
of  honor  (95)  or  makes  it  possible  for  them  to  maintain  in  every- 
way the  appearance  of  respectability  (203).  The  personification 
of  the  grossest  selfishness,  they  believe  that  everything  is  their 
due  and  that  they  are  not  born  to  labor  (587).  The  differentia- 
tion of  the  social  body  into  classes  is  considered  a  most  natural 
thing  which  cannot  be  changed  either  by  a  levelling  religion  or 
by  a  revolution,  and  the  result  of  this  natural  law  is  that  since 
the  beginning  of  the  world  the  lowest  stratum  of  a  people,  though 
wretchedly  fed,  has  always  been  working  for  the  upper  classes. 
He  who  has  the  power  has  also  the  right  and  is  a  fool  if  he  allow 
himself  to  be  robbed  of  this  power  (51-3) .  A  social  class  like  this 
has,  of  course,  not  the  least  understanding  for  the  ideas  of  liberty 
and  human  brotherhood.  The  democratic  efforts  of  the  progress- 
ive elements  they  deem  social  Utopias  (334),  the  dreams  of  eccen- 
tric heads  who  do  not  know  what  they  really  want,  or  the 
machinations  of  ambitious  people  who  intend  to  fish  in  troubled 
waters.  Every  one  of  such  a  wild  crowd  is  deemed  by  them  an 
object  of  contempt  (208).  The  untenable  and  dissolute  theories 
of  socialistic  and  communistic  benefactors  can  never  help  the 
proletariat  (31).  The  constitutional  bourgeois  are  not  much 
more  interested  in  the  economic  welfare  of  the  working  people. 
They  admit  that  the  laborer's  condition  is  not  as  good  as  it  might 
be,  but  they  are  sure  of  an  improvement  if  he  will  only  keep 
quiet  and  not  create  disturbances  which  turn  everything  topsy- 
turvy. They  warn  the  workman  against  the  members  of  the 
Democratic  Club  who  want  to  fish  only  in  troubled  waters  and 
do  not  care  a  snap  for  the  working  class  (130).  For  the  pro- 
gressive elements,  too,  have  formed  a  political  club. 

In  contrast  with  the  egotism  and  selfishness  of  the  ruling 
classes  the  representatives  of  the  progressive  part  of  the  people 
are  led  by  high  ideals  for  which  they  stand  without  fear  (372). 
They  believe  in  the  freedom  and  brotherhood  of  men  because  the 
wisest  and  best  have  postulated  fellowship  as  the  ideal  of  the 
human  race  (772;  372).  Thus  in  Balthasar  the  high  ethical 
idealism  of  the  novelist  is  so  pronounced  that  the  poor  school- 
master is  judged  a  Diogenes  by  his  more  active  friend  instead  of 
the  wished  intermediate  between  the  Greek  philosopher  and 
Alexander,  he  is  termed  an  anvil  which  lacks  the  cruel  force  of 


^'« 


44 

the  hammer  (71).  They  acknowledge  the  dignity  of  human  na- 
ture (185)  and  in  standing  for  fellowship  believe  in  a  solidarity 
of  all  human  virtues  which  demands  a  social  structure  built  on 
the  principles  of  right  and  justice  (44;  372;  665).  For  the  in- 
dividual's power  is  very  limited.  Only  in  community  with 
others  has  man  an  assurance  of  success  (767),  and  only  in  love 
can  he  find  salvation  (67). 

With  these  ideals  the  existing  conditions  of  state  and  society 
are  found  by  the  democrats  to  be  in  complete  disagreement.  It 
is  a  society  in  which  one  person  unscrupulously  draws  profit 
from  the  other  to  attain  ends  which,  when  attained,  prove  worth- 
less ;  a  State  in  which  free  men  who  desire  to  grant  to  others  what 
they  demand  for  themselves  are  of  no  use,  but  which  shamefully 
abuses  its  great  means  in  order  to  perpetuate  the  power  of  in- 
dividuals (542).  The  State  is  the  domain  of  the  princes  and 
their  followers,  the  nobility  and  military.  These  privileged 
classes  cause  the  deep  sore  of  the  existing  social  conditions ;  they 
represent  arrogance  and  injustice  (333),  social  customs  and  state 
institutions  which  have  long  been  overcome  by  the  progress  of 
civilization  (551).  The  whole  existing  system  holds  the  entire 
modern  development  in  contumely  and  merely  because  it  exists 
is  not  logical.  For  only  absurdity  has  erected  barriers  between 
the  individual  classes  of  human  society  (772),  divided  natural 
kinds  of  vocation  into  unnatural  castes  which  seclude  themselves 
from  one  another  and  of  which  the  privileged  ones,  negligently 
and  cruelly,  repulse  the  rise  in  the  world  of  those  who  have  been 
suppressed  for  centuries,  preventing  against  the  current  of  the 
times  (410)  millions  of  human  beings  from  a  natural  develop- 
ment of  their  forces  (543).  The  present  time,  however,  requires 
rational  conditions  in  respect  to  all  classes  of  society  (646)  be- 
cause now  the  various  spheres  of  life  are  intimately  connected 
with,  and  overlap,  one  another  (362).  But  the  ruling  classes 
live  in  a  region  into  which  never  a  ray  of  true  humanity  and 
true  fellowship  has  fallen  (209).  Their  exclusive  family  and 
caste  pride  remains  an  obstacle  to  the  freedom  of  mankind 
(502),  and  the  unnatural  division  of  men  into  unnatural  social 
classes  has  created  the  idol  of  appearances,  to  please  which  every- 
thing untrue  and  unjust  is  done  (543),  and  the  poor  man  leads 
a  life  which  at  no  time  allows  him  to  realize  the  dignity  of  his 


45 

nature  (542).  It  never  occurs  to  these  ruling  classes  that  it  is 
their  fault  when  attempts  are  made  to  change  the  social  condi- 
tions ;  and  that  it  is  they  principally  who  have  caused  the  exist- 
ing evils  (671).  Being  haughty,  they  have  but  selfish  interests; 
like  flames  they  live  by  robbery  (338).  By  means  of  refined 
customs  and  a  choice  language  most  of  them  conceal  their  mental 
shallowness  (351-2).  They  are  non-entities  (362)  and  yet.  they 
rule,  and  conduct  themselves  in  a  proud  domineering  way,  un- 
worthy of  good  citizenship.  The  higher  officials  act  arbitrarily  in 
discharging  their  duties  or  hide  their  bureaucratic-despotic  con- 
victions behind  hypocritical  friendliness,  while  politically  they 
are  time-servers ;  the  younger  men  and  women  combine  with  their 
arrogance  and  insolence  open  libertinism  and  the  army  officers 
are  brutal  and  uncivil  (529) .  No  other  class  is  separated  through 
a  deeper  gap  from  the  rest  of  the  social  body  than  the  mili- 
tary (333).  In  this  class  especially,  mediaeval  traditions  and 
absurd  harmful  prejudices  are  alive.  Here  predominate  petty 
tyranny,  narrow-minded  pedantry,  superannuated,  aristocratic 
manners  (589).  Champions  of  a  faulty  conception  of  honor  the 
army  officers  exercise  a  sad  trade  in  a  sad  unintellectual  way 
(365),  and  not  distinguished  by  a  good  education  they  prevent 
any  fresh  breath  of  science  or  life  from  entering  (475).  Between 
the  spirit  of  the  times  and  the  spirit  which  is  being  cultivated 
in  the  military  class  there  is  no  reconciliation  possible  (453).  Its 
spirit  mocks  at  the  entire  modern  development  and  is  consid- 
ered by  all  intelligent  people  as  the  main  obstacle  to  a  favorable 
issue  of  the  revolution  (557)  as  well,  as  the  main  cause  which 
brought  about  the  revolution  and  subsequent  riots  (174).  Free- 
thinking  members  are  ousted  and  a  patriotic  frankness  that  lays 
bare  the  defects  of  the  country's  army  is  forbidden.  He  who 
belongs  to  the  array  becomes  gradually  imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  cohorts  of  violence  (452),  while  many  of  the  officers  do  not 
understand  their  business  as  well  as  some  simple  fellow  who  has 
brains  in  his  head  (612). 

Such  interpretation  being  given  to  the  state  of  society,  the 
progressive  elements,  the  democrats,  firm  in  their  convictions 
whatever  may  be  the  consequences  (372;  451-2),  work  for  the 
realization  of  their  ideals.  At  a  time  of  such  harsh  contrasts 
they  believe  a  complete  adjustment  imperative.     They  will  not 


46 

rest  till  Reaction  is  vanquished  (592).  They  strive  to  free  them- 
selves from  the  fetters  of  false  social  conditions  which  they  have 
completely  outgrown,  in  order  to  live  and  to  act,  to  speak  and 
to  work,  as  their  hearts  bid  them  (551).  They  rebel  against  the 
tormenting  humiliations  of  free-bom  souls  who,  under  degrading 
circumstances,  work  themselves  sore  in  their  struggle  to  be  the 
doers  of  their  deeds  (607).  They  fight  for  the  establishment  of 
freedom,  equality  and  fellowship  among  men,  for  a  state  and 
society  in  which  right  takes  the  place  of  might  (448),  and  they 
struggle,  not  only  for  themselves,  but  for  the  freeing  of  the 
nations.  For  freedom,  bom  in  the  soul  (618),  stands  uppermost 
in  their  minds  because  they  love  reason  (452;  543),  it  is  for  this 
good  cause  that  they  have  entered  upon  a  fight  to  the  finish 
(634).  Freedom  for  all,  liowever,  can  be  guaranteed  only  by  a 
democratic  republic.  The  republican  idea  is  identical  with  the 
genius  of  humanity,  and  like  it,  immortal.  All  great  and  good 
things  ever  done  in  this  world  have  sprung  from  this  source  and 
will  always  spring  from  it  (565).  In  a  democratic  republic  no 
class  distinction  can  exist,  the  military,  made  progressive  in  drill 
and  science,  will  be  changed  from  monarchical  pretorians  into 
the  people's  servants  (359;  361;  443),  and  the  tutelage  by  the 
State,  which  has  been  draining  the  whole  vitality  of  the  people, 
will  cease  (499-500). 

While  thus  the  ideals  and  aims  of  the  democrats  are  pre-emi- 
nently of  an  ethical-political  nature,  economic  questions  appear 
in  the  field  and  seek  an  answer  through  Dr.  Bernhardt  Miinzer 
and  his  followers. 

3. 

In  DvH  among  the  leaders  of  the  Rhenish  democrats  who 
differ  very  much  in  their  political  ideas,  Miinzer  holds  a  promi- 
nent position.  He  stands,  as  a  high  government  official  says,  at 
the  head  of  the  radicals  who  would  like  to  eradicate  everything, 
root  and  branch,  in  order  to  build  their  Utopias  on  a  tabula  rasa 
(32).  In  the  eyes  of  reactionaries  he  is  a  well-known  demagogue 
(170),  a  notorious  fellow  (173)  who,  as  attorney  of  the  rabble, 
meddles  with  everything  which  does  not  concern  him  (174)  and 
voices  damned  communistic  ideas  (178) — as  long  as  he  does  not 
receive  enough  money  to  draw  him  over  to  the  side  of  throne 
and  altar  (174).    He  is  president  of  the  Democratic  Club,  and 


47 

whatever  his  fault  may  be,  he  will  live  for  his  "Idea,"  even  if 
he  should  perish  in  view  of  the  promised  land  (412).  Just  so, 
Lassalle,  in  a  famous  love-letter  of  1860,  considers  this  possibility 
and  in  his  Ronsdorf  speech  of  May,  1864,  i.  e.,  after  the  publica- 
tion of  DvH — proof  for  the  excellent  information  which  the 
novelist  had  concerning  Lassalle — ^he  exclaims  that  he  had  not 
taken  hold  of  the  banner  of  the  labor  movement  without  exactly 
knowing  the  personal  ruin  it  might  mean,^  thus  affirming,  a  few 
months  before  his  death,  what  he  had  entered  in  his  diary  July 
19,  1841.^  But  while  the  real  meaning  of  Miinzer's  idea  becomes 
clear  only  toward  the  close  of  his  political  activity  he  works  at 
this  time  after  March  (of  1848)  by  speech  and  deed  as  partisan 
of  the  revolution.  Since  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his  profes- 
sorship at  a  Gymnasium^  because  his  Liberalism  had  come  into 
conflict  with  the  principles  of  the  State,  he  has  been  using  in  the 
newspapers  "what  the  bureaucrats  and  viri  obscuri  were  pleased 
to  call  a  sharp  pen"  (41).  After  the  declaration  in  France  of 
the  republic  of  liberty,  equality  and  fellowship,  after  the  return 
of  hope  to  the  hearts  of  the  people  on  the  Rhine  where  bonfires 
are  lighted  on  the  hills  by  night  and  the  ships  are  dressed  with 
flags  (49-50),  and  after  the  voluntary  grant  by  the  (Prussian) 
king  (120;  303)  of  all  demands,  Miinzer  remains  dissatisfied  with 
the  concessions  made  by  the  Government. 

A  forceful  speaker,  he  takes  part  in  the  embittered  campaign 
for  electing  Representatives  for  the  assemblies  in  Mainstadt 
(German  Parliament  at  Frankfurt  o/M)  and  the  capital 
(National  Assembly  at  Berlin)  in  April,  1848  (32;  69),  and 
works  for  a  continuation  of  the  revolution  (124)  which  in  the 
South  (Baden)  has  failed  in  its  contest  with  organized  reaction. 
By  demanding,  in  union  with  his  democratic  friends,  the 
promised  arming  of  the  people,  he  stirs  up  again  the  political 
life  in  Rheinstadt  which  causes  a  constant  beating  of  the  general 
and  keeps  the  military  ready  at  their  posts  (27) .  The  bourgeois 
city  government,  however,  relying  on  the  citizen's  guard  and 
the  army,  resist  (211),  and  Miinzer  finds  little  support  among 
the  masses  (122-28;  147-48).  The  radical  paper,  of  which  he  is 
the  editor,  loses  most  of  its  subscribers.     The  reactionary  ele- 

1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  190 ;  411. 

2  Cp.  above  p.   26. 

3  Max  Stlrner's  removal  from  office?  Kinkel  gave  his  last  lecture  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Bonn  at  5  p.  m.  and  took  leave  from  his  wife  and  children  in  the 
evening  to  join  the  revolutionary  forces.     Cp.  Schurz,  1.  c. 


48 

ments  regain  gradually  their  strength.  Miinzer  complains  that, 
owing  to  the  slackness  of  the  democrats,  they  are  again  strong 
enough  to  suppress  them  by  force  (277)  and  it  seems  to  him  that 
the  revolution  died  in  March  and  that  they  are  now  simply  lay- 
ing out  a  corpse  (278).  His  urgent  appeals  to  take  up  arms 
find  no  response  from  his  friends  because  they  recognize  that 
the  democrats  occupy  a  forlorn  position.  The  revolution  had 
broken  out  too  suddenly  and  had  found  them  unprepared.  The 
nobility,  the  military,  the  government  officials  have  for  the  most 
part  recovered  from  their  fright  and  arm  themselves  quietly ;  the 
bourgeois  cry  for  peace  at  any  price,  and  in  the  masses  proper 
the  democrats  have  no  ground  on  which  they  can  build  with 
certainty.  The  revolutionary  movement  is  in  the  descent  and  ere 
long  the  countershock  of  reaction  against  the  shock  of  the  revo- 
lution will  be  felt  (286). 

Miinzer 's  friends  are  glad  that  he  is  going  to  leave  for  the 
Constituent  Assembly  in  the  capital  to  which  he  has  been  elected 
by  his  many  friends  among  the  workmen  (373) ,  deeming  it  a  field 
for  his  activity  which  will  suit  him  better  than  writing  for  the 
newspapers  (287).  In  the  Constituent  Assembly  Miinzer  places 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  extremists.  He  becomes  thereby  in  the 
eyes  of  his  democratic  friends  an  enemy  to  the  common-weal,  an 
enemy  the  more  dangerous,  the  greater  his  talents,  the  fierier  his 
mind,  the  more  captivating  the  power  of  his  speech  and  the 
charm  of  his  personality  (481),  and  a  breach  opens  between 
them  which  is  to  lead  to  a  complete  rupture  and  deprive  him  of 
the  support  of  the  more  moderate  democrats  with  their  many 
adherers  (478/9).  A  newspaper  campaign  is  soon  started 
against  Miinzer  (482),  for  he  has  renounced  the  economic  princi- 
ples of  the  democratic  party  and  preaches  in  his  last  pamphlets 
the  grossest  socialistic  doctrines;  moreover,  he  has  set  his  mind 
on  turning  the  German  political  movement  into  a  European,  or 
even  a  cosmopolitan  one  and  is  negotiating  with  Italian,  French 
and  Slavonic  republicans  (500). 

The  Assembly  having  been  dismissed  in  the  beginning  of  the 
following  winter  (Nov.  1848)  reaction  sets  in  openly  and  the 
sword  rules.  The  situation  is  a  desperate  one;  Reaction  has 
almost  finished  weaving  her  net  and  the  giant  "Revolution" 
lies  on  the  ground,  the  people  have  been  taken  their  arms,  and 
their  mouths  are  closed  (499).    More  arrests  are  made  now  dur- 


49 

ing  one  evening  than  formerly  during  a  week,  the  rabble  of  bur- 
ghers have  now  time  to  study  ethics  as  some  young  army  officers 
call  it  (444),  they  are  not  allowed  to  congregate  in  the  streets, 
even  in  pairs  (447/8).  Miinzer  deliberates  with  his  friends 
whether  they  should  rise  or  give  in  entirely  (459)  ;  he  is  in  de- 
spair because  no  one  will  act  and  their  cause  loses  ground  every 
day  without  their  stirring  themselves  to  repulse  the  enemy, 
(Lasalle's  activity  and  speeches  in  Diisseldorf  Nov.  13,  in  Neuss 
Nov.  21,  1848?).  He  is  shown  the  uselessness  of  an  uprising  be- 
cause as  long  as  the  democrats  have  not  the  necessary  power  in 
their  hands  to  overthrow  their  enemy  at  the  first  attack,  it  will 
always  be  unsuccessful.  In  politics  the  successful  use  of  power 
decides  and  the  mainstay  of  Eeaction,  the  army,  is  still  unbroken. 
It  was  bad  enough,  as  Lassalle,  too,  says^,  that  in  March  when 
the  democrats  had  the  power  in  their  hands  they  did  not 
make  better  use  of  their  favorable  situation,  remove  the  reaction- 
ary officers,  make  the  rest  take  oath  on  the  new  Constitution  and 
democratize  the  whole  army  from  the  highest  generals  down  to 
the  youngest  recruit  (471;  477).  The  people  cannot  disarm  the 
army  (473).  In  the  new  elections  Miinzer  is  beaten  and  the 
"reds"  are  said  to  have  tried  to  make  the  conservatives  believe 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  be  re-elected  (517).  The  Democratic 
Club  is  now  composed  for  the  most  part  of  violent,  passionate 
men  in  blouses  and  with  uncouth  fists  whom  an  oath  binds  to 
one  another,  and  who  without  their  leader  are  perplexed  and 
helpless  (562/3). 

When  the  new  Assembly  has  been  again  sent  home  and  when 
that  House,  in  which  greatness  and  happiness  was  expected  to  be 
returned  to  the  waiting  nation,  breaks  up  (Frankfurt  Parliament), 
everywhere  the  flames  of  revolution  break  forth,  fed  by  the  storm 
which  is  drawing  near  from  the  South  (Baden)  in  the  spring 
(of  1849).  The  tocsin  resounds  in  cities  thrown  into  turmoil 
by  fights  behind  the  barricades  (550/51).  Miinzer  calls  a  meet- 
ing of  his  Club  to  deliberate  in  the  spirit  of  harmony  and  fellow- 
ship upon  what  steps  ought  to  be  taken  in  view  of  the  present 
conditions  and  the  events  occurring  in  their  immediate  neighbor- 
hood. His  former  democratic  friends  who,  since  his  falling 
away  from  the  principles  of  the  party,  have  kept  him  at  a  dis- 
tance appear,  too,  at  this  meeting  and  warn  the  people  against 

1  "Ueber  Verfassungswesen"  ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  212-13. 


■^ 


50 

taking  up  arms  for  a  new  empire,  the  romantic  spectre  which  has 
heen  taken  from  the  lumber-room  in  Frankfurt  and  brought 
into  the  light  of  the  19th  century,  for  an  imperial  Constitution 
made  of  mere  compromises.  For  the  only  question  can  be 
whether  or  not  to  fight  for  a  purely  democratic  republic ;  and  the 
latter  is  at  this  moment  the  only  thing  to  do.  A  republican  up- 
rising is  under  the  present  circumstances  a  hopeless  and,  there- 
fore, ridiculous  enterprise  (565/67).  A  year  ago,  in  the  first  roar 
of  enthusiasm  it  was  different.  Today  the  mighty  remember  their 
might,  and  the  rich  their  riches,  and  the  cowards  their  coward- 
ice, there  is  no  hope  of  success,  and  he  who  tries  to  awake  this 
hope  deceives  himself  and  others;  he  is  no  hero  but  a  daring 
gambler  (568).  But  the  present  members  of  the  Democratic 
Club,  fanatic  partisans  of  Miinzer,  mostly  proletarians,  carry 
the  day.  They  declare  that  they  have  no  time  to  wait  till  roasted 
doves  fly  into  their  mouths.  They  hunger  with  their  wives  and 
children  and  drink  when  their  stomachs  are  empty.  This  starva- 
tion must  end  because  they,  too,  are  human  beings  (569)  :  ''Down 
with  nobility  and  church,  aristocrats  and  hypocrits!"  Miinzer  *s 
party  have  become  almost  a  secret  society,  they  have  statutes 
and  take  an  oath  at  being  admitted.  They  propose  striking  se- 
cret blows  that  their  opponents  may  have  no  time  to  recover  and 
the  province  may  fall  into  their  hands,  and  then  in  union  with 
the  South  declaring  the  republic  for  the  West  (570).  At  last 
they  agree  to  procure  themselves  arms,^  move  to  a  nearby  city 
where  the  revolution  has  been  successful  for  the  moment  and  if 
it  should  be  impossible  to  maintain  themselves  there,  to  join  the 
revolutionary  army  in  the  South  (573).  The  moderate  demo- 
crats withdraw  openly  from  the  radicals;  they  will  belong  no 
longer  to  a  party  which  can  discuss  even  for  a  moment  such 
mad,  bloodthirsty  and  wholly  impractical  plans  (571). 

Miinzer  in  following  the  plan  decided  on,  supported  only  by 
a  few,  and  these  in  the  majority,  the  most  violent  characters  who 
are  led  by  personal  hatred  of  the  nobility  or  by  the  desire  to 
enrich  themselves  (573),  ruffians  who  do  not  shrink  from  doing 
violence  even  to  women,  does  not  meet  with  success  and  joins 
the  Southern  army.    But  the  operations  very  soon  appear  to  him 


1  Munzer's  Club,  his  speeches  in  the  "Romer,"  the  decision  to  procure  arms 
and  the  ill  success  of  the  expedition  reflect  apparently  the  speeches  in  the 
"Romer"  at  Bonn  of  Kinkel,  the  acknowledged  democratic  leader,  and  the 
plan  of  the  democrats  to  storm  the  royal  armory  at  Siegburg  near  Bonn,  In 
order  to  arm  the  landwehr  in  May,  1849.     Cp.  C.  Schurz,  1.  c. 


51 

A  foolish  campaign  for  a  romantic  Constitution.  Socialistic 
ideas  have  gained  the  upper  hand  in  him.  For  some  time  he  has 
been  thinking  of  leading  the  workmen  and  proletariat  in  the 
cities  and  in  the  country  to  a  war  of  extinction  against  the  ruling 
classes  and  of  procuring  the  workmen  the  control  of  the  State 
(646).  In  June  and  July  (of  1849)  the  revolutionary  army 
which  Miinzer  has  joined  is  pressed  hard  by  the  regular.  He 
sees  that  the  revolution  has  failed.  He  feels  he  can  only  fertilize 
with  his  blood  the  ground  from  which  perhaps  in  a  future  time 
the  fruit  of  a  better  liberty  shall  rise  than  is  now  possible  in  the 
shade  of  36  thrones,  which  one  dares  not  touch  and  innumerable 
churches  which  still  are  respected  as  sanctuaries  (667).  It  is 
the  fault  of  the  lower  middle  class  that  the  revolution  has  mis- 
carried (666).  The  bourgeois  will  henceforth  rule.  But  Miin- 
zer consoles  himself  with  the  thought  that  after  all  the  rapacious 
democrats  have  the  credit  of  giving  Tyranny  respect  for  the  im- 
mortal rabble  which  results  in  concessions  benefitting  also  the 
middle  classes  ( 733 ) .  He  falls  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies  and 
is  first  condemned  to  die  as  a  revolutionist,  but  then  pardoned  to 
life  imprisonment.^  His  friends  attempting  to  free  him,  he  falls 
a  victim  of  personal  hatred. 

While  Miinzer  has  changed  from  the  partisan,  he  seemed  to  be 
(170),  to  the  ethical-political  aims  of  his  democratic  friends,  into 
a  socialistic  revolutionist,  the  latter  develop  into  that  kind  of 
Liberals  who  under  the  name  of  Progressionists,^  were  to  become 
the  antagonists  of  Bismarck  and  Lassalle.  Guided  by  the  im- 
mortal ideal  of  a  free  brotherly  mankind,  they  work  quietly  after 
the  revolution  has  failed,  for  spreading  the  great  thought  of  the 
solidarity  of  all  human  interests  (772).  But  for  the  time  being, 
they  want  to  establish,  first  of  all,  German  national  unity  and  are 
therefore  opposed  to  Miinzer 's  international  activity.  German 
unity  is  out  of  the  question  if  his  ideas  should  be  realized  (500). 
The  poor  schoolmaster  Balthasar,  who  like  Lassalle 's  Balthasar, 
the  mediator  between  Knights  and  democratic  forces,^  sees  far 
into  the  future,  declares  that  Miinzer 's  attempt  to  secure  the 

^  w'*f^^  ^''^'^®'-  Miinzer's  joining,  in  company  with  his  friend  and  former  pupil, 
Wolfgang  von  Hohenstein,  the  Southern  revolutionary  army,  his  capture  by 
the  Prussian  regulars  and  life  imprisonment  reflect  Kinkel's  and  Schurz's 
P'ght  into  the  Palatine  to  join  the  Revolutionists,  the  capture  of  Kinkel  by 
the  Prussians  and  his  life  imprisonment.     Cp.  C.  Schurz,  1.  c. 

2  The  democratic  party  of  1848  sprung  from  the  Liberals,  who,  in  opposition  to 
It,  were  henceforth  called  Old  Liberals.  From  the  latter  the  Progressionists 
separated  as  the  radical  Liberals  in  1861. 

s  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  120. 


?i 


52 

working  classes  the  ruling  position  in  the  State  would  be  the 
equivalent  of  placing  these  classes  simply  where  the  nobility  and 
the  other  privileged  classes  stand  now.  Conditions  would  only 
be  different  but  not  better.  He  believes  in  a  state  of  society 
where  no  one  rules  but  Reason  (646)  and  learns  during  the  revo- 
lution that  the  realm  of  peace  cannot  be  established  by  violent 
means,  for  the  archenemy  of  man,  selfishness,  can  be  overcome 
only  by  love.  So  long  as  love  does  not  rule,  all  revolutions  are 
but  convulsions  which  show  the  progress  of  the  sickness  and  not 
the  recovery  (645).  The  more  practical  Peter  Schmitz  con- 
siders the  socialistic  republicans  the  worst  enemies  to  freedom. 
They  work  to  his  mind  against  the  self-education  of  the  people 
by  advocating  State  tutelage  which  so  far  has  been  only  harmful. 
But  he  is  also  opposed  to  revolutionary  convulsions  which  only 
throttle  men  more  tightly.  The  material  with  which  a  republic 
is  to  be  erected  must  first  be  prepared  by  making  the  people 
morally  and  physically  strong.  He  sees  his  task  henceforth  in 
teaching  the  great  principle  of  educating  one's  self  to  be  able  to 
shape  one's  existence  more  worthy  of  man  materially  and  ethi- 
cally and  to  preach  everywhere  the  first  and  last  command  of 
political  ethics,  Help  thyself  (500).  He,  too,  like  all  young 
reformers,  once  thought  it  possible  to  heal  all  wounds  of  society 
with  the  wand  of  socialism  and  communism,  and,  indeed,  the 
founders  of  all  humane  religions  have  thought  thus  and  still  we 
are  not  in  paradise.  Such  paradise  is  the  dream  of  primitive 
innocence  as  well  as  that  of  posthumous  general  fellowship.  The 
world  of  the  democrats  must  be  built  on  other  principles,  those 
of  right,  justice  and  the  solidarity  of  interests  (544).  And  so 
Schmitz,  a  genius  in  economics,  establishes  an  admirable  system 
of  Trust,  Savings  and  Co-operative  Societies  for  which  he  is 
given  very  willingly  the  necessary  capital.  For  on  the  strong 
shoulders  of  this  man  rests  truly  a  part  of  the  future,  not  only 
of  Germany,  but  of  Europe,  nay  of  the  whole  world  (767). 

In  the  social  struggle,  then,  portrayed  in  DvH,  at  first  all  de- 
grees of  democracy  are  united  in  the  attempt  to  break  the  power, 
held  by  the  privileged  classes  and  the  bourgeois  in  the  affairs 
of  the  State,  and  shape  the  policies  more  liberally.  The  novel  is, 
indeed,  a  bloody  satire  on  the  influence  of  the  hated  hypocrits. 
Junkers   and   Reactionary   party^   who   in   the   opinion  of  tne 


1  Henning,  1.  c.  p.  114. 


53 

Liberals  of  the  sixties  of  last  century  thought  less  of  their  duties 
than  of  their  rights  and  of  regaining  their  ruling  position  in 
Prussia.  Spielhagen,  together  with  the  Liberal  Representatives, 
saw  in  the  demand  by  the  Government  of  an  army  re-organiza- 
tion in  1862  only  the  desire  of  the  nobility  or  rather  the  Junkers 
either  to  change  the  Constitution  with  a  reactionary  purpose  or 
to  bring  about  a  return  to  an  absolute  monarchy.  Therefore  he 
felt  it  to  be  the  duty  of  a  good  patriot  to  fight  against  the  privi- 
leged classes  just  as  Baron  von  Stein  and  among  others  Schulze- 
Delitzsch,  too,  had  done.^ 

That  the  latter  has  stood  model  for  the  drawing  of  Peter 
Schmitz  is  indicated  by  his  name  and  proved  by  some  expres- 
sions and  his  economic  ideas  which  remind  one  of  Schulze.^ 
Without  any  really  scientific  training  in  economics  he  was 
brought  like  Schmitz  through  practice  to  the  study  of  social 
questions.  He  carried  the  ideal  of  the  Liberal  view  of  State  and 
world,  the  individual's  right  to  his  own  opinion  and  responsi- 
bility, from  the  political  and  legal  sphere  into  econondcs  and 
tried  to  make  the  workman  economically  independent  by  keeping 
alive  the  trades  and  the  artisan  without  capital  in  a  general 
union  against  the  capital  class.  During  the  stir  of  the  labor 
movement  in  the  winter  of  1862/3  he  like  Schmitz  warned  the 
working  classes  against  the  seductions  of  socialism.^  But  the 
preservation  of  the  artisan  class  did  not  touch  the  labor  question 
which  Lassalle  like  Miinzer  sought  to  solve  and  thus  the  great 
Democrat  became  Schulze's  antagonist  in  economics.  He  re- 
proaches him  in  his  Arbeiterlesebuch*  for  his  middle  class  ideas 
of  which  Schmitz  is  the  representative  in  DvH,  and  Schulze 
preaches  like  Schmitz  that  the  labor  question  is  not  a  political 
but  an  economical  one,  that  it  cannot  be  answered  by  the  State 
but  only  by  the  individual,  namely  through  self-help,  discipline, 
increased  education  and  solidarity  on  condition  of  absolute  poli- 
tical liberty.'^ 


1  Henning,  1.  c.  p.  131;  164. 

2  Cp.  "Ihr  taabt  die  Gewalt;  wir  haben  das  Recht ;  wir  wollen  sehen,  wer  es  am. 
langsten  treibt"  (448)  ;  and  Schulze's  words  with  which  he  concludes  his 
"Kapitel  zu  einem  deutschen  Arbeiterkatechismus"  :  "Dort  (with  Lassalle) 
Redensarten,  hier  Kapital  und  Bildung,  wir  wollen  sehen,  wer  das  Peld  be- 
halt,"  to  which  Lassalle  answers  in  his  Frankfurt  speech  of  May  19,  1863 : 
"Dort  Redensarten  und  Kapital ;  wir  werden  sehen,  wer  es  am  langsten  aus- 
hSlt."     Cp.  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  288 ;  318. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  378. 
•*  Oncken,  1.  c.  p..  312. 

8  Cp.  "Kapitel  zu  einem  deutschen  Arbeiterkatechismus" ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  286. 


54 

The  schism,  then,  which  was  to  open  between  the  Progression- 
ist Liberals  of  the  sixties  and  Lassalle  and  which  will  occupy 
more  fully  our  attention  in  considering  the  work  of  Leo  in  IRuG, 
finds  its  reflection  in  the  separation  of  the  moderate  democrats 
from  the  socialist  Miinzer  in  the  course  of  the  general  struggle 
for  freedom  from  the  sway  of  the  privileged  classes  during  the 
revolution  of  1848/49.  But  the  novelist,  beside  putting  it  almost 
a  decade  earlier  than  it  actually  took  place  (765),  gives  the 
political  parties  in  DvH  an  alignment  in  respect  to  their  tenden- 
cies, strength  and  extent  throughout  Prussia-Germany  which  is 
not  entirely  borne  out  by  history. 


It  must  be  conceded  that,  discounting  the  tendency  of  the 
novel  which  has  caused  the  representatives  of  the  ruling  classes 
to  appear  as  the  embodiment  of  all  vices,  and  those  of  the  strug- 
gling democrats,  excepting  their  radical  socialistic  adherers,  as 
the  personifications  of  all  virtues,  the  social  and  political  ten- 
dencies portrayed  in  DvH  form  a  part  of  those  which  were  held 
by  Germans  of  the  revolutionary  period.  The  revolution  of  1848 
was  the  result  of  a  social  disarrangement  which  was  in  progress 
especially  in  the  West  and  South  of  Germany  and  of  efforts  foi" 
unity  and  a  Constitution.  The  individual  had  not  secured  politi- 
cal liberty  and  a  proper  share  in  the  affairs  of  the  State  in  con- 
sequence of  the  Restauration,  nor  had  the  whole  nation  been 
united  in  one  strong  State,  but  the  different  States  firmly  es- 
tablished sought  to  preserve  the  old  conditions  with  the  aid  of 
police  and  bureaucracy.  The  movement  affords  a  complex  pic- 
ture of  idealistic  and  materialistic  currents  which  fluctuated 
promiscuously.  The  direct  object  was  a  liberal  Constitution. 
The  individual  social  groups  sought  to  make  themselves  felt  po- 
litically and  to  secure  their  political  position  by  a  new  statute. 
In  so  far  the  fight  for  a  Constitution  contained  also  something  of 
class  struggles  but  they  were  never  definitely  defined  and  were 
frequently  accompanied  by  ideological  moments,  the  desire  for 
a  democratic  satisfaction  of  individual  rights.  The  second  ob- 
ject of  the  fight  was  the  creation  of  a  united  fatherland  above 
the  single  States.  It  had  a  stronger  ideological  moment.  Of 
course,  it  was  expected  that  this  empire  would  be  governed  also 


oo 


by  the  constitutional  joint  administration  of  the  people  but  how 
far  this  share  in  the  government  should  go  and  how  the  relation 
of  the  empire  to  the  individual  States  would  shape  itself  was  a 
moot-case.  There  were  all  degrees  of  thinkers  from  partisans 
of  a  constitutional  empire,  or  a  confederation  governed  by  a 
directory,  down  to  advocates  of  a  pure  unitarian  parliamentary 
monarchy  or,  with  greater  consequence,  of  a  unitarian  State  on  a 
democratic  republican  basis.  The  most  decided  demands  of 
those  who  were  fighting  for  a  liberal  Constitution  as  well  as 
those  who  worked  for  a  unitarian  State  agreed  in  the  idea  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people.^  So  the  revolution  of  1848  was  above 
anything  else  a  political  struggle,  and  although  the  democrats 
in  DvH  hold  freedom  and  a  liberal  Constitution  possible  only  in 
a  unitarian,  democratic  republic  for  whole  Germany  as  against 
the  privileged  classes,  who  believe  in  a  monarchy,  the  novelist 
lias  given  a  true  if  one-sided  picture  of  the  political  struggle. 

It  is  different  when  we  compare  the  combatants  and  ask  to 
which  social  classes  they  belong  and  whether  their  class  struggle 
is  borne  out  by  history.  The  democrats  in  DvH  are  recruited 
from  the  lower  middle  class  of  the  Rhenish  provinces,  only  two 
of  the  nobility  appearing  among  them.  One  is  evidently  mod- 
elled after  Carl  Schurz^ — he  frees  Miinzer  as  Schurz  his  friend 
Kinkel,  and  his  flight  through  the  mountains  to  join  the  revolu- 
tionary army  reflects  Spielhagen's  trip  with  Schurz  over  the 
same  territory  before  the  latter  joined  the  Southern  revolution- 
ary forces.  This  nobleman  belongs  to  them  by  family  relation 
and  inclination  while  the  other^  is  a  democrat  only  in  policy  and 
succumbs  in  the  conflict  between  his  democratic  and  aristocratic 
impulses.  But  the  historical  supporters  of  the  German  revolu- 
tion of  1848  did  not  belong  to  any  definite  social  class.  It  is 
true  that  in  those  provinces  where  the  movement  for  German 
unity  started  because  they  had  been  under  Napoleonic  influences 
and  where  the  democratic  adjustment  of  society  had  made  vast 
strides,  reactionary  legislation  was  more  keenly  felt  than  in 
those  parts  of  Germany  where  the  people  and  the  dynasty  had 
been  coalescing  for  a  long  time.  Therefore,  the  Rhenish  pro- 
vinces offered  a  favorable  ground  for  revolutionary  movements. 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  56-57. 

2  Henning,  1.  c.  p.  42.     Cp.  above  p.  51  note  1. 

3  Cp.  about  Major  v.  Degenfeldt,  below  p.  66. 


56 

But  their  supporters  were  not  exclusively  the  middle  class,  nor 
the  whole  middle  class.  They  were  the  best  intellectual  forces  of 
the  nation,  the  thousands  who  had  studied  in  the  universities, 
no  small  parts  of  the  nobility  who  could  not  withstand  the  power 
of  the  new  ideas,  together  with  the  artisans  and  workmen  who 
stood  behind  the  middle  class  and  longed  for  a  social  better- 
ment. So  there  were  marshalled  against  the  old  regime  people 
of  all  classes,  from  the  proletarian  to  the  heights  of  intellectual 
education,  higher  officials,  the  ruling  classes  and  even  thrones. 
Indeed,  men  of  the  most  advanced  West  German  middle  class  like 
Camphausen  and  Hansemann,  in  union  with  liberal  aristocrats 
and  higher  officials,  took  hold  of  the  reins  which  had  almost  fallen 
from  the  hands  of  the  monarch3^' 

On  the  other  hand,  Spielhagen  draws  a  true  picture,  if  we 
leave  aside  for  a  moment  the  bourgeoisie  or  upper  middle  class, 
in  making  the  middle  class  and  the  workingmen,  who  have  not 
yet  separated  politically,  the  heart  of  the  army  attacking  the  old 
regime  and  attributing  to  them  ideal  and  material  motives- in  an 
equal  measure.  For  while  the  historical  middle  class  had  become 
stronger  economically,  and  could  now  be  identified  with  German 
culture,  none  of  these  ideal  and  material  factors  can  be  con- 
sidered primary,  they  were  only  complementing  and  furthering 
each  other.  This  class  like  that  of  the  novelist  is  eager  to  become 
of  age  economically  and  politically  and  will  bear  no  longer  the 
pressure  of  bureaucratic  tutelage.  In  breaking  with  the  old 
forms,  they  in  their  totality  come  in  for  political  consideration, 
or,  in  their  higher  strata,  even  for  control  of  State  affairs,  as  in 
France  and  Belgium,  and  their  claims  could  be  satisfied  in  the 
form  of  a  parliamentary  monarchy.  From  the  very  small  class 
of  the  propertied  burghers  the  lower  middle  class  was  graded 
almost  imperceptibly  to  the  class  of  industrial  workmen.  A  po- 
litical division  of  the  classes  such  as  France  under  the  control  of 
the  bourgeoisie  had  brought  about  from  1830  to  1848  hardly  ex- 
isted anywhere  in  Germany.  Here  they  had  made  common  cause 
in  the  revolution.-  Spielhagen  is  also  historical  when  he  tells 
of  a  division  in  the  middle  class,  taking  place  in  the  course  of 
1848,  for  after  the  victory  it  was  a  question  how  to  adjust  the 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  58-59. 

2  Oncken,  I.  c.  p.  59-60 ;  228. 


m-'^ 


57 


^ 


new  order,  especially  in  industrial  districts  as  in  the  Rhenish 
provinces,  where  a  propertied  class  of  manufacturers  and  a  class 
of  industrial  workmen  gradually  found  themselves  in  a  social 
contrast.  Here  the  revolutionary  movements  produced  a  fourth 
independent  estate.  At  first  they  appeared  still  as  followers  of 
the  great  array  enlisted  in  the  service  of  others  nor  in  the  further 
progress  of  the  movements  were  they  sharply  separated  from 
the  lower  stratum  of  the  lower  middle  class  but  they  became 
gradually  more  conscious  of  their  class  interests  and  strove  for 
radical  exclusive  aims.  The  political  ends  of  the  middle  class, 
the  national  aspirations  of  the  ideologists  offered  no  inducements 
to  this  fourth  estate.  They  were  gradually  replaced  by  purely 
democratic  aims  in  combination  with  socialistic  ideas  which  went 
far  beyond  the  narrow  horizon  of  the  middle  class  republicans. 
But  after  all,  these  new  powers  meant  very  little  for  the  whole 
in  1848.  The  German  revolution  cannot  be  considered  from  the 
viewpoint  of  a  contrast  between  bourgeoisie  and  proletariat.^ 
And  it  is  here  that  Spielhagen's  narrative  becomes  unhistorical. 
He  portrays  the  partisans  of  these  socialistic  tendencies  as  repre- 
sentatives of  the  most  outspoken  hatred  of  nobility,  church  and 
capitaP  and  as  widely  separated  at  last  from  the  moderate 
democrats.  Spielhagen  exaggerates  greatly  in  making  a  class 
struggle  out  of  a  political  contest  without  actual  economic  aims. 
The  position  of  the  bourgeoisie  in  DvH  is  still  less  borne  out 
by  history.  In  fact  it  corresponds  with  the  opinion  of  the  radi- 
cals of  the  Rhenish  provinces,  like  Marx,  Engels  and  Lassalle. 
Marx  having  at  once  returned  from  his  exile  to  Cologne  after  the 
outbreak  of  the  revolution,  issued  and  edited  in  union  with  Fr. 
Engels  and  others,  among  them  the  poet  Freiligrath,  the  "Neue 
Rheinische  Zeitung,"  a  paper  which  represented  the  beginning 
of  the  socialistic  labor  movement  with  inexorable  consequence 
and  wildest  fanaticism.^  Marx  and  his  friends  had  published 
in  1847  the  " Kommunistische  Manifest,"  in  which,  among  other 
points,  modern  history  was  declared  to  be  the  history  of  the 
struggle  between  bourgeoisie  and  proletariat.  It  was  from  this 
view  point  that  the  Neue  Rheinische  Zeitung  considered  the  Ger- 
man  revolution.     As   in   France   bourgeoisie    and   proletariat 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  59-60 ;  228. 

^  Cp.  above  p.  50. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  61-63. 


58 

fought  in  union  against  the  crown,  the  last  feudal  halo  which 
covered  the  rule  of  the  bourgeoisie,  and  in  consequence  of  the 
February  revolution  the  bourgeois  despotism  was  consummated, 
making  necessary  a  decisive  battle  between  the  two  forces  left 
alone  on  the  field,  so  the  German  March  revolution  was  judged  to 
have  been  brought  about  chiefly  in  the  interest  of  the  bour- 
geoisie^ and  also  resulted  in  leaving  only  these  two  forces  in  the 
field  who  must  now  come  to  terms.  In  considering  the  result  of 
the  German  revolution,  Marx  finds  on  the  one  hand  the  permis- 
sion to  arm  the  people,  the  right  of  forming  associations,  the  de 
facto  obtained  sovereignty  of  the  people,  on  the  other,  the  re- 
tention of  the  monarchy  and  the  ministry  Camphausen-Hanse- 
mann,  i.  e.  the  government  by  the  representatives  of  the  bour- 
geoisie. But  the  bourgeoisie  sighing  for  the  period  when  it  had 
ruled  without  being  responsible  and  had  had  a  scape-goat  whom 
the  proletariat  could  strike  as  often  as  it  wished  to  hit  the  bour- 
geois,^ anti-revolutionary  at  all  times  and  fearing  the  people,  i.  e. 
the  workmen  and  the  democratic  lower  middle  class,  now  con- 
eluded  with  Reaction  an  alliance  offensive  and  defensive.^  This 
is  on  the  whole  the  position  which  DvH  attributes  to  the  bour- 
geoisie^ and  just  as  Marx  and  his  friends — among  them  Las- 
salle^ — from  the  view  point  of  modern  history  as  the  history  of 
class  struggles,  transferred  such  a  struggle  from  France  to  Ger- 
man soil  and  measured  with  decided  bias  the  course  of  the  en- 
tirely different  German  conditions,*  so  Spielhagen,  too,  makes 
the  German  bourgeoisie,  contrary  to  history,  the  props  of  throne 
and  altar  because  they  fear  the  fourth  estate.  In  ascribing  such 
a  position  to  the  bourgeoisie  after  the  outbreak  of  the  revolu- 
tion, Marx,  like  his  disciple  Lassalle,  saw  in  the  ' '  Vereinbarungs- 
theorie",  i.  e.  in  the  arbitration  between  Absolutism  and  Liber- 
alism for  which  the  Constituent  Assembly  had  been  convened,  a 
disavowal  of  the  revolution  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  people.* 
Notwithstanding  his  belief  in  the  necessity  of  a  decisive  battle 
between  bourgeoisie  and  the  proletariat,  he  still  counted,  as  Miin- 
zer  does,  on  the  radical  democrats  of  the  middle  class  for  his 
practical  agitation,  intended  to  lead  the  revolutionary  move- 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  61-63. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  41. 

3  Arbelterprogramm ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  228. 
*  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  62-63. 


59 

ments  in  the  direction  of  communism.^  He  knew  there  was  as 
yet  no  class  feeling  among  the  workmen  as  such.  This  is  shown 
in  a  letter  to  Marx  by  Lassalle  of  June,  1852,  in  which  the  latter 
speaks  of  the  confused  elements  from  which  a  primitive  labor 
party  had  to  be  organized  in  1848,  whereas  they  now  begin  grad- 
ually to  be  conscious  of  their  identity  as  a  class  and  to  develop 
its  consequences  theoretically.^ 

From  the  position  which  Spielhagen  in  agreement  with  Marx 
gives  to  the  bourgeoisie  in  DvH  in  relation  to  the  privileged 
classes  a  clearer  light  will  now  also  fall  on  the  attitude  of  the 
bourgeoisie  towards  the  radicals  in  the  novel.  The  men  of 
1848/49  sought  in  the  succeeding  decade  an  historical  solution 
of  the  problems,  with  which  they  had  grappled  for  two  years. 
They  studied  in  the  time  of  leisure  the  revolutionary  period  of 
the  Reformation  in  order  to  find  there  proofs  for  the  correctness 
of  their  political  thoughts  and  historical  reasons  for  their  con- 
victions. Every  political  party  found  itself  again  among  the 
contrasts  of  the  past  and  heard  in  the  struggle  of  the  present 
their  echo.^  The  Neue  Rheinische  Zeitung  voiced  the  opinion  of 
the  radical  democrats  also  on  this  subject.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
revolutionary  movements  of  the  Reformation  all  oppositional  ele- 
ments, the  moderate  reform  party  of  the  Lutheran  burghers  and 
the  revolutionary  party  of  peasants  and  plebeians,  in  which  lat- 
ter the  demands  of  Thomas  Miinzer  were  the  most  radical,  were 
united  in  their  fight  against  the  conservative-Catholic  party.  But 
when  the  peasants  and  plebeians  led  by  Luther's  calls  against 
the  priests  and  by  his  Sermon  on  Christian  Freedom,  set  about 
to  rise  against  their  oppressors,  he  did  not  hesitate  one  moment 
to  throw  aside  the  popular  elements  of  the  movement  and  to 
join  the  classes  of  the  conservative  burghers,  nobles  and  princes. 
In  the  same  way  the  bourgeois  parties,  who,  even  up  to  1847,  had 
been  revolutionary,  had  called  themselves  socialists  and  dreamed 
of  the  emancipation  of  the  workingmen,  turned  away  from  the 
popular  elements  and  preached  in  the  Prussian  National  Assem- 
bly of  1848,  the  passive  resistance  and  peaceful  development  in- 
stead of  opposing  the  coup  d'etat  of  November  with  force. 
Through  their  wavering  between  radicalism  and  conservatism 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  62-63. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  83. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  144. 


60 


and  through  all  kinds  of  attempts  to  negotiate  and  compromise 
they  reminded  the  disappointed  radicals  of  the  actions  of  Luther 
and  his  friends,  and  the  pitiful  result  which  is  called  the  Augs- 
burg Confession.  Furthermore,  as  Luther  when  the  rising  of  the 
revolutionists  reached  over  into  Protestant  territory  and  the 
"  spiessbiirgerliche ",  the  philistine,  movement  grew  too  much 
for  him,  forgot  all  previous  enmity  and  allied  himself  with 
princes  and  pope  against  the  murderous  and  robber-like  gangs 
of  peasants,  who  he  said  should  not  be  treated  with  any  false 
compassion,  so  the  bourgeoisie  who  had  been  socialistic  and  phil- 
anthropic turned  reactionary  when,  after  the  days  of  March, 
1848,  the  proletariat  came  to  harvest  the  fruits  of  its  victory. 
The  rebels  were  shot  down  or  sent  to  jail  in  the  name  of  a 
religion  which  in  its  origin  was  nothing  but  pure  communism. 
So  the  bourgeois  followed  in  the  steps  of  Luther  who,  by  his 
Bible  translation,  had  taught  the  insurgents  to  distinguish  be- 
tween primitive  and  feudalized  Christianity,  and  then  with  the 
same  Bible  had  thundered  against  them  the  claim  of  a  govern- 
ment established  by  God,  nay,  in  the  same  way,  sanctioned  the 
princely  character  by  the  grace  of  God,  the  passive  resistance, 
even  serfdom,  and  thus  denied  his  whole  revolt  against  the 
worldly  and  ecclesiastic  authorities.  Miinzer,  the  plebeian  revolu- 
tionist, had  become  in  his  eyes  an  instrument  of  the  devil  as 
shown  by  his  letter  "Against  the  Rebellious  Spirit,"  addressed 
to  the  Princes  of  Saxony;  he  asks  these  to  step  in  and  drive 
Miinzer  from  their  lands.  In  like  manner  the  Liberal  bourgeoisie 
denied  their  past  and  were  found  on  the  side  of  Reaction  during 
the  critical  period  of  the  revolution  of  1848/49.^ 

It  would  seem  that  this  expose  by  the  radical  democrats  of  the 
attitude  of  the  bourgeoisie  towards  the  conservative-reactionary 
classes  and  the  description  of  how  the  former  turned  away  from 
the  masses,  advocated  forceful  means  for  the  suppression  of 
rebellious  inclinations  and  refused  demands  which  they  had 
promised  to  grant — it  is  of  no  consequence  that  in  DvH  the 
permission  to  arm  the  people  apparently  depends  only  on  the 
city  government  while  historically  the  Prussian  Government  was 
this  factor^ — gives  a  full  explanation  for  Spielhagen's  arrang- 


1  Fr.  Engels,  Der  deutsche  Bauernkrieg.     Neue  Rheinische  Zeitung.     Helt  5.  6. 
p.  21  ff. ;  cp.  also  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  117  ff. 

2  Cp.   above  p.  58. 


61 

ing  his  parties  and  attributing  to  them  tendencies  of  a  more 
social  nature  than  history  allows.  This  expose,  too,  may  have  led 
the  novelist  to  call  his  hero  Miinzer,  and  as  he  gives  him  the 
Christian  name  Bernhardt=Ferdinand^  we  can  look  for  some 
influence  of  Lassalle,  too,  in  this  connection.^  Indeed,  while  the 
marshalling  of  the  struggling  parties  and  their  aims  depends  on 
the  general  view  of  the  revolution  as  it  was  held  by  the  radical 
democrats,  the  influence  of  Lassalle  is  not  without  bearing  on 
the  reason  why  the  revolution  of  1848/49  was  doomed  to  be  a 
failure,  another  idea,  evidently  with  intention,  exemplified  in 
DvH. 

5 

Lassalle,  although  very  intimatelj^  associated  with  Marx  and 
his  friends  during  the  revolutionary  time,  and  seeing  also,  as  we 
have  pointed  out,  in  modern  history  the  history  of  class  strug- 
gles, does  not  agree  with  them  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  peasant 
wars  as  revolutionary  movements.  He  observes  that  the  peas- 
ants, still  bound  by  the  ideas  of  the  middle  ages,  made  landed 
property  the  condition  for  participation  in  government  and 
succeeded  in  their  demand  for  representation  by  the  free  farmer 
and  knightly  landholder  against  the  princes  whose  territorial 
position  because  of  its  inherent  idea  of  a  sovereignty  independent 
of  landed  property,  contained  the  revolutionary  moment.^  It 
never  occurred  to  them  that  man  as  such  could  be  entitled  to 
share  in  the  government.  He  points  out  that  the  Reformation, 
measured  by  the  standard  of  free  humanity  must  give  the  palm 
to  the  Renaissance,  for  this  movement  which  started  the  Re- 
formation is  filled  with  a  freer  and  more  liberal  humane  enthu- 
siasm than  the  Reformation  proper.  This  interpretation,  ex- 
pressed in  the  preface  to  his  drama,  explains  why  an  ethical 
and  political  reform  was  made  its  subject  and  Sikkingen  its 
hero.* 

Indeed,  it  would  seem  as  though  Lassalle  were,  after  all,  in- 
fluenced very  little  by  ]\Iarx's  teaching  that  modern  history  is 


1  Cp.  above  p.  13. 

2  It  Is  interesting  to  note  that  Lassalle  once  thought  of  writing  a  libretto  for 
an  opera,  on  Thomas  Miinzer  for  instance,  in  the  interest  of  his  agitation. 
Cp.  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  421. 

3  Arbeiterprogramm ;  Oncken,  1    c.  p.  215. 

4  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  124. 


62 

the  history  of  class  struggles.  His  knights  and  peasants  by  no 
means  bear  the  typical  traits  nor  do  they  represent  the  interests  of 
their  classes.^  The  ideal  of  a  united  Germany  without  princes  and 
with  freedom  of  thought  holds  a  pre-eminent  position  in  the 
drama,  the  social  movements  of  the  Reformation  occupy  only  a 
secondary  place.  Sikkingen — it  matters  not-  here  whether  the 
historical  person  could  be  the  hero  of  such  a  drama  as  Lassalle*s 
(he  resembles  Degenfeldt,  cp.  below  p.  66),  for  not  on  his  efforts 
nor  on  that  of  the  other  knights  rested  the  progress  of  German 
history  but  on  the  territorial  princes^ — fights  for  religious  or 
general  intellectual  freedom  and  for  the  unification  of  Germany. 
He  opposes  the  ecclesiastic  spirit,  any  slavery  whatsoever,  and 
territorialism,  the  German  princes.^ 

The  preference  for  this  ethical  and  political  ideal  to  the  social 
question  of  the  peasants  is  the  main  reason  for  Marx's  and  En- 
gel's  adverse  criticism  of  the  drama.  ^  It  is  different  in  respect 
to  its  speculative  idea  on  which  Lassalle  wrote  an  essay  for  his 
friends  in  London,  Marx,  Engels  and  Freiligrath.*  He  starts 
from  the  question,  What  are  the  causes  for  the  failure  of  most 
revolutions  ?  and  finds  the  last  cause  as  true  Hegelian  in  a  formal 
dialectical  antithesis.  The  eternal  strength  of  all  ruling  classes, 
he  says,  who  defend  an  existing  order,  consists  in  the  undeceiva- 
ble  complete  understanding  of  their  class  interests  which  already 
in  power  and  perfected  has  taken  hold  of  every  member;  the 
eternal  weakness  of  ever\^  justified  revolutionary  idea  which 
struggles  for  its  realization  lies  in  the  lack  of  such  a  conscious- 
ness on  the  part  of  the  individual  members  of  the  classes  con- 
cerned. Their  principle  has  not  yet  been  realized,  and  conse- 
quently they  lack  organization  of  the  means  at  their  disposal. 
The  strength  of  every  revolution  depends  on  enthusiasm,  i.  e.  on 
overlooking  the  finite  means  for  its  realization  and  the  difficul- 
ties which  oppose  it.  But  the  moment  arrives  for  operating 
with,  and  depending  on,  the  means  at  hand.  Then  it  may  ap- 
pear as  a  triumph  of  surpassing  realistic  sagacity  on  the  part 
of  revolutionary  leaders  to  conceal  the  true  ends  of  the  move- 
ment and,  by  means  of  this  deception  of  the  ruling  classes  or, 
even  by  using  them,  to  gain  the  possibility  for  organizing  new 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  128. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  126 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  124 ;  127. 

4  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  122. 


63 

forces.  But  enthusiasm  in  coming  to  terms  with  the  finite  has  in- 
stead of  realizing  itself,  discarded  its  principle,  the  revolutionary 
idea ;  it  must  succumb.  Most  revolutions  which  have  failed  have 
failed  because  of  the  inner  necessity  of  this  dialectic  contradic- 
tion, prudence.  And  Lassalle's  Sikkingen  having  failed  for  this 
very  same  reason,  Marx  could  acknowledge  that  this  tragic  col- 
lision was  exactly  that  which  justly  brought  about  the  failure 
of  the  revolutionary  party  of  1848/49.^  In  this  dialectic  contra- 
diction lies  the  secret  of  the  strength  of  the  extreme  parties  in 
revolutions,  and  moreover,  the  secret  why  the  instinct  of  the 
masses  ordinarily  succeeds  better  than  the  intelligence  of  the 
educated.  Individuals  can  be  deceived;  classes  never.  Every 
compromising  act  abandons  its  principle;  for  every  aim,  as 
Hegel  already  saw  and  Sikkingen  makes  clear  to  Hutten,  can  be 
attained  only  by  means  in  accord  with  its  own  inner  nature. 
Therefore,  revolutionary  ends  can  never  be  realized  through 
diplomatic  means.  On  the  contrary,  revolutions  can  be  made 
only  with  the  masses  and  their  passionate  devotion  because  they 
cannot  conceive  of  compromising  but  demand  the  extreme,  the 
whole,  the  direct.  Thence  the  practical  superiority  of  the  ab- 
stract idealist  and  the  inferiority  of  those  who  diplomatize  or 
' '  listen  mit  der  Idee ' ',  i.  e.  believe  that  they  can  reach  revolution- 
ary aims  through  diplomatic  means,  and  consequently  succumb. 
In  this  deceiving  or  bargaining  with  the  idea  lies  the  tragic  guilt 
of  Sikkingen,  a  guilt  not  only  intellectual  but  also  moral.  With- 
out relinquishing  his  revolutionary  aims  in  the  least,  he  deceives 
the  idea  in  respect  to  execution,  while  Luther,  for  instance,  re- 
fused any  compromise  on  points  which  he  considered  paramount. 
Sikkingen  instead  of  appealing  to  the  principles  and  allowing 
their  revolutionary  force  to  act  makes  the  historical  idea  and  the 
national  cause  dependent  on  the  success  of  an  enterprise  which 
he  carefully  divests  of  its  general  validity  under  the  cloak  of  ac- 
cident. Therefore,  he  himself  fails  through  a  concatenation  of 
accidents.^ 

It  may  be  impossible,  without  any  other  evidence,  to  prove 
that  this  dialectic  idea,  to  which  Lassalle  puts  the  tragic  story  of 
his  Sikkingen,  is  intended  to  be  also  the  idea  of  the  struggle  in 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  123. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  124. 


G4 

DvH,  but  a  remarkable  similarity  is  obvious.  To  be  sure,  we 
can  not  substitute  Miinzer  for  Sikkingen.  In  his  desire,  as  Las- 
salle  writes  in  the  preface  to  his  drama,  to  drive  once  more  the 
great  current  of  culture  and  civilization  of  the  German  Renais- 
sance and  Reformation  through  the  veins  of  the  people,  he  wants 
to  make  those  greatest  and  mightiest  destinies  which  rule  the 
welfare  of  the  whole  public  mind  the  subject  of  his  drama,  and 
it  was  of  course  technical  reasons  that  required  him  to  make  an 
individual,  Sikkingen,  the  instrument  for  this  aim.  But  in  a 
novel  the  masses  can  be  brought  on  the  stage,  and  so  Miinzer, 
although  in  a  large  measure  the  hero  of  DvH,  is  only  one  among 
the  many  who  take  part  in  the  revolution;  the  more  so  since 
Spielhagen  believes  that  the  hero  of  a  novel  must  not  march  at 
the  head  of  the  phalanx  nor  be  too  active  because  by  such  a  posi- 
tion he  absorbs  too  much  of  the  interest  of  the  reader  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  the  other  figures.^  Miinzer  and  his  radical  friends 
form  only  a  small  portion  of  the  masses  who  are  up  in  revolu- 
tion against  the  privileged  classes. 

It  is  true  that  in  a  certain  measure,  he,  too,  illustrates  Lasal- 
le's  view  on  the  causes  for  the  failure  of  revolutions.  He  lives 
and  works  with  an  enthusiasm  that  places  its  cause  above  the 
interests  of  family  and  friends  (165;  652;  125;  151;  276/7)  for 
the  realization  of  his  idea  of  justice  to  which  the  social  misery 
from  which  he  has  sprung  has  given  a  socialistic-communistic 
character.  But  instead  of  openly  and  from  the  start  appealing 
to  this  principle,  for  tv,-enty  years  he  champions  freedom  and 
unity  of  his  fatherland  (666)  on  the  side  of  the  democrats,  takes 
part  in  realizing  the  compromise  between  the  old  regime  and  the 
forces  raised  by  the  revolution  and  deceives  thus  his  ' '  idea. ' '  But 
he  deceives  himself  too.  In  trying  to  organize  revolution  he  finds 
no  support  among  the  masses,  he  and  his  followers  have  no  cla&s 
interest  as  the}^  differ  very  much  in  feeling  and  thoughts  (568). 
His  joining  the  revolutionary  army,  which  fights  for  an  imperial 
Constitution  while  he  secretly  aims  at  the  establishment  of  a 
social  republic,  is  the  climax  of  his  deceiving  the  "idea."  He 
acts  in  manifest  contradiction  to  his  principles  (650),  does  not 
testify  for  truth  and  champions  a  false  principle  (566)  ;  he  must 


1  F.  Spielhagen,  Neue  Beitrage  zur  Theorie  und  Technik  der  Epik  und  Drama- 
tik.     p.  208  f. 


65 

succumb.  But  he  offends  his  principle  of  justice  also  by  his  love 
affair  which  has  a  greater  share  than  his  political  conduct  in  his 
desertion  of  his  revolutionary  idea.  He  is  not  the  man  to  bring 
about  that  justice  for  which  he  fights. 

The  complete  similarity  of  the  tragic  revolutionary  idea  rests 
with  the  democrats  in  DvH  as  a  whole.  The  different  classes 
having  been  fully  characterized  above,  it  suffices  to  state  this 
similarity  briefly.  All  the  members  of  the  nobility  and  military 
in  DvH  with  one  exception  form  a  caste  who  see  their  position 
warranted  by  reason  of  a  natural  law  (20).  They  rule  by  dint 
of  a  class  principle  that  permeates  each  member  and  by  strength 
of  the  army  which  is  theirs.  The  people  in  arms  will  always  be 
stronger  than  the  people  without  arms  (473).  They  are  strong 
because  of  their  consciousness  of  strength  based  on  the  solidarity 
of  interests  and  comradeship  which  flatter  even  the  proletarian 
in  arms.  For  the  military  institution  gives  him  a  position  in 
life  while  outside  of  it  he  remains  always  the  proletarian  pure 
and  simple,  and  it  makes  him  insusceptible,  too,  to  the  siren  songs 
of  liberty,  equality  and  fellowship  (472).  In  contrast  with  such 
a  ruling  class  the  progressive  democrats  are  bound  to  fail  in 
their  revolution.  Differing  very  much  in  their  political  ideas 
they  have  no  class  feeling,  and  their  means  are  not  sufficiently 
oi^anized.  The  revolution  came  too  soon  for  them  (286)  and 
then  the  people  deceived  the  revolutionary  idea  by  compromis- 
ing with  the  Government  which  necessarily  must  lead  to  reac- 
tion. They  have  used  prudence,  Lassalle's  dialectical  contra- 
diction, instead  of  realizing  the  revolutionary  principle  which 
was  possible  in  the  first  soar  of  enthusiasm  (567).  There  is  no 
enthusiasm  left  among  the  masses,  a  successful  issue  of  the  revo- 
lution is  out  of  question,  and  Spielhagen's  spokesmen  instead 
of  making  compromises  with  the  ruling  classes  have  learned,  like 
Lassalle's  Sikkingen,  to  trust  the  force  of  their  ideas  and  spread 
them  to  all  homes  to  prepare  the  changes  which  they  deem  neces- 
sary for  the  social  body.^ 

That  the  novelist,  however,  has  recognized  Lassalle's  formal 
revolutionary  idea  underlying  his  drama  or  has  even  known  of 
his  correspondence  with  his  London  friends  on  this  inatter,  and 
has  intentionally  based  his  own  subject  on  the  same  formal  idea. 


1  Cp.  above  p.  52. 


66 

seems  to  become  a  certainty  if  Marx's  objection  to  Sikkingen  as 
the  bearer  of  a  revolutionary  idea,  which  otherwise  found  his  ap- 
proval, be  taken  into  account.  In  Marx's  opinion  Sikkingen  is  not 
the  proper  person  to  represent  the  dramatic  principle  of  a  tragic 
collision.  He  is  no  revolutionary  hero  nor  can  he  be  the  hero  of 
such  a  drama  because  in  the  main  he  represents  a  reactionary 
interest.  Nor  could  he  do  otherwise.  He  did  not  fail  because 
of  his  prudence  but  because  as  a  knight  and  representative  of  a 
class  going  to  ruin  he  revolted  against  the  existing  conditions; 
he  was  revolutionary  only  in  his  imagination  and  divested  of 
his  peculiar  qualities  nothing  is  left  of  him  but — Gotz,  "the 
miserable  fellow."^ 

Such  a  Sikkingen  as  Marx  conceived  him  to  have  been  ap- 
pears also  in  DvH.  Major  von  Degenfeldt  —  a  name  well 
known  in  the  history  of  the  Baden  revolution  —  seems  partly 
to  have  been  modelled  after  the  former  Prussian  military 
officer,  Wilhelm  Riistow,  who  had  taken  part  in  Garibaldi's 
expedition  and  was  living  at  Ziirich  when  he  became  a  friend 
of  Lassalle's  during  the  latter 's  journey  to  Switzerland  and 
Italy,  in  the  summer  of  1861.  Riistow  was  an  energetic  and  in- 
telligent man  who  like  Degenfeldt  (DvH  474)  was  no  radical 
party  politician  by  profession,  but  considered  revolution  from  a 
purely  military  view  point  as  a  kind  of  normal  state  and  held 
his  strategical  abilities  always  in  readiness  for  such  enter- 
prises.^ He  was  one  of  the  seconds  in  the  duel  which  was  to 
lead  to  Lassalle's  death^  and  appears  evidently  under  the  name 
of  Baron  von  Kerkow,  in  the  same  capacity  in  IRuG  (II  608).* 
While  Degenfeldt  has  been  given  Riistow 's  strategical  gifts  and 
political  radicalism  he  represents  also  some  radical  opinions  of 
Fichte-Lassalle,  who  do  not  object  to  a  despot's  ruling  for  a 
while  if  he  succeed  in  educating  his  people  for  liberty  (DvH 
359;  473).^  But  in  most  other  respects,  in  the  principal  traits 
of  his  character,  the  revolutionary  officer  of  noble  rank  is  the 
exact  counterpart  of  Marx's  Sikkingen.  His  deep  insight  into 
the  defects  of  the  superannuated  system  has  led  him  into  the  con- 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  125. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  149. 

3  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  169. 

4  Cp.  above  p.  16. 

5  Lassalle's  "Fichtes  polltlsches  Vermachtnis  und  die  neueste  Qegenwart"  1860. 
Cp.  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  156.     Cp.  below  p.  74. 


67 

test ;  he  is  a  revolutionist  in  his  mind  but  not  in  his  heart,  fancy, 
passion,  nor  in  his  blood  and  nerves  (662).  In  these  he  is  still 
the  aristocrat  for  whom  there  is  no  real  equality  of  men  (661). 
He  belongs  after  all  to  the  ruling  classes  against  which  he,  as 
democrat  in  mind,  fights,  and  succumbs  as  a  romanticist  who  does 
not  belong  in  the  modern  world. 

Miinzer,  we  conclude,  devotes  his  life  to  a  task,  which  Hutten- 
Lassalle  has  set,  in  a  contest  with  the  ruling  classes  or  powers, 
based  on  Lasalle's  formal  revolutionary  idea.  It  remains  for  us 
to  examine  how  far  his  political  activity,  aims  and  means  for 
their  attainment  correspond  with  those  of  the  historical  revo- 
lutionist. 

6. 

Owing  to  Spielhagen's  disinclination  to  introduce  contem- 
poraneous people  into  his  novels^  only  a  few  details  of  Miinzer 's 
life  remind  of  Lasalle's.  Having  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 
Countess  Hatzfeldt,  January,  1846,  Lassalle  betook  himself  to  the 
Rhine  the  next  summer  to  begin  the  legal  contest  with  her  hus- 
band. On  the  Rhine  he  became  the  disciple  of  Karl  Marx  and 
the  Neue  Rheinische  Zeitung,  and  the  partisan  of  the  social-dem- 
ocratic republic.  The  German  revolution  means  also  for  him  the 
time  of  political  apprenticeship.  On  the  experience  which  he 
had  at  that  period  of  his  life  his  convictions  are  based ;  from 
them  spring  both  the  principal  thoughts  of  his  theoretical  works, 
as  '  *  Sikkingen ' ',  for  example,  and  his  practical  achievement,  the 
labor  agitation.  He  was  working  in  the  interest  of  radical  demo- 
cracy when  just  at  the  outbreak  of  the  French  revolution  he  was 
arrested  in  connection  with  the  famous  theft,  Aug.  20,  1846,  of  a 
valise  of  the  mistress  of  Count  Hatzfeldt,  in  which  documents 
detrimental  to  the  cause  of  her  lover  were  supposed  to  be,  and 
was  held  for  trial  till  his  impressive  "  Kassettenrede  "^  of  Aug. 
11,  1848,  brought  about  his  acquittal.  Thus  when  for  the  first 
time  democratic  ideas  showed  their  power  in  Germany  the  man 
who  from  his  early  youth  had  felt  a  feverish  impulse  for  politi- 
cal action  was  condemned  to  idleness  as  far  as  the  revolution  was 
concerned.    He  was  at  liberty  only  from  this  date  to  Nov.  22, 


1  Cp.  above  p.  10. 

2  Preigeboren,  p.  287-88. 


68 

1848,  and  could  not,  therefore,  take  part  in  the  outbreak  of 
March,  nor,  as  Miinzer  does,  in  the  second  revolution  of  May  and 
June,  1849.  Neither  did  he  find  the  opportunity  the  latter  had 
of  political  activity  in  any  parliament  and  assembly  or  in  the 
publication  of  a  newspaper.^    ' 

But  during  the  two  months  he  was  at  liberty  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  revolutionary  cause  with  all  his  energy.  When  the 
Prussian  Reaction  set  in  in  Nov.  1848,  he  sent  out  a  call  to  arms 
like  Miinzer;  indeed,  he  had  before  this  done  everything  possi- 
ble to  prepare  the  people  for  a  rising  in  arms.  In  a  speech  at  Neuss 
Nov.  21,  he  urged  them  once  more  to  arm  and  break  forth  as 
soon  as  the  sign  would  be  given  from  Diisseldorf ,  Lassalle  's  place 
of  residence  at  that  time,  together  with  the  start  of  the  expected 
revolt  in  Silesia.  But  the  next  day  he  was  arrested  on  the  accu- 
sation of  having  incited  the  people  to  arm  against  the  king  and 
held  for  trial  till  May  6,  1849,  when,  as  a  result  of  his  famous 
"Assisenrede,"  which  had  been  published  in  print  before  the 
trial  began  and  which  he  was  not  allowed  to  deliver  in  court,  he 
was  acquitted,  but  further  held  till  July  5,  1849,  for  the  lesser 
crime  of  having  incited  the  people  to  resist  by  force  State  officers. 
He  was  thus  kept  away  from  the  scene  of  historical  events,  and 
when  he  was  once  more  free  the  revolution  had  been  suppressed 
everywhere,  the  leaders  were  dead,  captured  or  abroad,  the  old 
powers  again  firmly  established.  It  was,  after  all,  a  happy  fate 
which  befell  Lassalle.  He  could  remain  in  his  native  country, 
from  which  he  did  not  become  estranged  as  so  many  others. 

Beside  the  strenuous  effort  of  Miinzer  to  bring  about  the  arm- 
ing of  the  people  and  to  advance  the  cause  of  the  revolution,  it 
may  be  said  that  in  the  eyes  of  the  military  reactionary,  he  ap- 
pears, as  Lassalle  was  characterized  by  the  police  of  Diisseldorf, 
to  be  a  man  of  extraordinary  mental  gifts,  charming  eloquence, 
indefatigable  activity,  exaggerated  ideas  of  liberty,  great  fixity 
of  purpose,  a  wide  circle  of  acquaintances,  very  clever  conduct 
and  enabled  by  the  large  means  of  his  client  to  be  the  chief 
leader  of  the  "reds"  in  the  Rhenish  provinces  (DvH  298;  306; 
307 ;  266 ;  268 ;  274 ;  124-5 ;  278,  etc.) .-  When  he  calls  himself  in 
his  great  plea  the  agitator,  the  prompter,  the  ringleader  (730)  or 
is  characterized  as  such  by  others  (170;  174,  etc.)  it  again  agrees 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  54. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  82. 


69 

completely  with  a  police  report  of  1852  on  Lassalle :  ' '  His  plan  is 
to  awaken  and  nourish  in  the  workmen  discontent  with  their 
economic  conditions  and  to  persuade  them  that  the  republican 
sj'Stem  will  and  must  remove  their  distress.  "^ 

Especially  Miinzer's  great  plea  reminds  one  of  Lasalle's  fa- 
mous "Assisenrede, "  "a  dialectic  masterpiece  in  which  the  great 
Democrat  with  demagogic  eloquence  builds  up  a  forceful  accusa- 
tion and  thunders  with  fulminating  blows  of  a  club  against  the 
violation  of  the  Constitution  and  the  robbing  of  the  people."^ 
In  Miinzer's  plea  Spielhagen  has  given  us  an  example  of  the 
wonderful  speeches  of  the  agitator  Lasalle.  The  latter  himself 
has  explained  their  practical  composition  as  resulting  from  the 
desire  to  give  them  a  scientific  character  and  easy  intelligibility, 
so  that  they  could  impress  by  dint  of  their  popularity  the  great 
majority  of  the  uneducated,  and  in  \'irtue  of  their  scientific 
depth  the  elite  among  the  most  highly  educated.'  Barring  the 
scientific  character  which  Spielhagen  had  to  omit  in  this  case 
Miinzer's  great  speech  has  the  plastic  form  and  definiteness 
which  Lassalle  used  and  it  complies  also  with  the  requirements  of 
the  agitator  in  its  ability  to  impress  both  the  uneducated  and 
the  educated.  But  there  are  also  some  thoughts  common  to  both 
speeches.  Both  Miinzer  and  Lassalle  proclaim  themselves  par- 
tisans of  a  social  republic,  consider  it  their  duty  to  espouse  one 
side  and  stake  blood  and  property  in  times  of  political  excite- 
ment, in  contrast  to  all  those  who  forget  their  duties,  not  seeing 
tte  danger  into  which  their  indifference  places  them,  and  think 
their  achievement  a  shining  example  of  patriotism  which  de- 
serves a  reward  rather  than  punishment  (DvH  735;  732;  733).* 

1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  82. 

2  "Meine  Assisenrede,  etc.  "Diisseldorf  1849.  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  24 ;  cp.  Oncken, 
1.  c.  p.  74. 

3  Der  Hochverratsprozess  wider  F.  Lassalle,  etc.  Berlin,  1864.  p.  33.  Der 
Prozess,  etc.  zii  Diisseldorf.     Frankfurt  a-M.  1864.  p.  21. 

*  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  67 ;  71-74.  But  Lassalle  claims  reward  also  in  other  speeches ; 
cp.  above  p.  31.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  Miinzer's  plea  was  written 
also,  perhaps  even  to  a  greater  extent,  under  the  influence  of  the  speech  which 
Kinkel  delivered  when  he  was  tried  in  Cologne,  April,  1850,  for  having  taken 
part  in  an  attempt  to  seize  the  royal  armory  at  Siegburg  in  the  interest  of  the 
revolution.  Miinzer  not  only  stands  accused  of  a  very  similar  undertaking, 
but  uses  in  his  plea  thoughts  which  Kinkel  uttered  before  the  court.  The  lat- 
ter calls  himself  a  socialist  since  his  heart  has  always  been  with  the  poor  and 
oppressed.  As  a  socialist  he  is  also  a  democrat.  He  considers  the  democratic 
State  the  only  sure  remedy  for  economic  misery,  and  declares  the  unity  of  the 
fatherland  to  be  the  political  aim  of  the  German  revolution.  Having  obtained 
democratic  institutions  in  1848  the  people  not  only  have  the  right  but  also  the 
duty  to  defend,  as  one  man  and  with  all  weapons  possible,  such  institutions, 
and,  therefore,  he  has  not  hesitated  to  join  men  without  education  and  of 
doubtful  reputation  in  order  to  uphold  the  democratic  cause.  But  the  people 
have  given  up  their  struggle  and  have  deserted  their  leaders.  Yet  for  his  en- 
deavors to  protect  the  democratic  Constitution  he  demands  a  crown  as  reward. 
Cp.  Schurz's  Lebenserinnerungen. 


70 

The  impression  of  Miinzer's  plea  is  such  (735)  as  the  court 
feared  Lassalle's  speech  would  create^  when  it  forbade  its  de- 
livery. 

There  are  a  few  minor  points  in  which  the  political  activities 
of  Lassalle  and  Miinzer  agree:  Just  as  Lasalle's  house  and 
purse  during  his  stay  on  the  Rhine  stood  always  open  to  political 
fugitives  and  impoverished  democrats,^  so  Miinzer  supports  his 
poor  party  friends  whenever  he  can  (119)  ;  as  the  great  Demo- 
crat showed  very  early  the  remarkable  gift  of  ability  to  impress 
the  masses  and  often  found  admiration,  devotion  and  uncondi- 
tional obedience  with  the  working  people  although  in  his  whole 
life  he  was  on  intimate  terms  with  only  one  talented  workman 
of  the  Rhinelands,^  so  Miinzer  has  an  extraordinary  influence 
over  his  adherers,  even  the  most  violent  ones  (155;  131;  165), 
and  his  resignation  and  contempt  for  the  crowd  for  whom  he 
sacrifices  everything  (149;  165)  correspond  with  what  Lassalle 
felt  and  thought  in  his  experiences  with  the  workingmen.-^ 
Miinzer's  grinding  activity  (44)  and  feverish  working  in  the  in- 
terest of  his  cause  reflects  almost  literally  that  of  which  Lasalle 
wrote  in  a  letter  to  Riistow,  Feb.  9,  1862,  and  his  praise  of  the 
blessing  of  industry  (266;  268;  274)  the  words  of  Lasalle.  con- 
tained in  a  letter  of  Oct.  10,  1861,  to  the  revolutionary  poet 
Herwegh.*  As  Lassalle's  "glowing  soul  is  full  of  impatience 
over  the  slow  development  of  events"  as  he  said  himself  in 
another  letter,  so  Miinzer  is  always  urging  his  friends  to  act  as 
we  have  pointed  out.  Lastly  as  the  historical  Democrat  received 
in  his  work  a  more  than  friendly  assistance  from  the  Countess 
Hatzfeldt,  so  Miinzer  stands  in  close  relation  to  a  noble  woman 
who  becomes  also  his  fate  and  helps  his  cause  for  love  of  him 
but  makes  his  work  harder,  too,  by  injuring  his  reputation  with 
friends  and  foes  ( 421-22 ;  501 )  .^ 


1  Cp.  also  Schurz's  account  of  the  impression  which  Kinkel's  plea  made. 

2  "Die  Feste,  die  Presse  und  der  Frankfurter  Abgeordnetentag,"  Diisseldorf. 

3  Oncken,  I.  c.  p.  85-86.     Cp.  also  the  note  on  p.  121  below. 

4  0ncken,   1.  c.  p.  191-2;   359. 

5  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  43  ;  47.     Freigeboren,  p.  287. 


71 


< 

While  the  restricted  participation  by  Lassalle  in  the  German 

revolution,  and  the  limited  space  of  time  in  which  the  events 
related  in  DvH  take  place  necessitated  a  drawing  of  Miinzer's 
political  activity  differently  from  that  of  his  prototype,  aside 
from  the  novelist's  practice  mentioned  above,  a  more  complete 
agreement  may  be  looked  for  in  their  aims  and  the  means  for 
their  attainments. 

Miinzer  considers  the  existing  social  misery  from  almost  the 
same  viewpoint  as  Thomas  Miinzer^  and  starts  in  his  political 
activity  from  the  idea  of  justice.  The  sum  of  happiness  in  which 
mankind  must  share  is  very  small  and  everyone  can  receive  his 
modest  portion  only  if  he  listens  to  reason  and  claims  no  more 
than  what  he  likes  to  grant  his  fellowmen.  This  discernment 
which  realizes  itself  in  deeds  of  modesty  and  renunciation  is 
called  Justice  (165),  and  its  purport  demands  that  what  is  still 
the  exclusive  property  of  a  few  become  the  property  of  all  (168). 
Miinzer,  therefore,  is  opposed  to  those  who  want  to  be  something 
different  from  others  and  do  nothing  to  overcome  their  individ- 
ual selfish  desires  (426)  and  works  that  right  and  justice  be 
established  both  politically  and  economically.  The  wretched 
shall  here  on  earth  receive  their  inheritance  and  shall  be  given 
no  longer  smooth  words  and  beautiful  phrases  to  eat  and  to 
drink  (302).  But  like  the  youthful  Lassalle  seeing  in  the  exist- 
ing government  the  personification  of  despotic  selfishness  and 
arbitrariness  because  it  takes  Might  for  Right  and  has  neither  the 
will  nor  the  power  to  bring  the  revolution  to  completion,  and 
ascribing  to  only  a  few  members  of  the  ruling  classes  the  desire 
to  further  the  welfare  of  the  fatherland  and  a  free  powerful 
fatherland  at  that,  Miinzer  in  his  fight  for  the  rights  of  man 
is  also  a  partisan  of  the  radical  democrats  of  1848.  He  combines 
mth  the  ideal  of  the  Renaissance  also  those  ideas  of  the  rights  of 
man  of  the  French  revolution  which  sprung  from  it.  For  be- 
side brotherhood  and  equality  freedom  must  be  secured  for  his 
people  (416),  but  as  Spielhagen  says  of  the  conception  of  free- 
dom for  which  the  German  revolutionists  fought : 

"Die  gutmiitige,  idealistische,  glaubige,  kopflose  Revolution, 


1  Cp.  above  p.  38. 


72 

in  der  keiner  etwas  anderes  als  Freiheit  woUte,  wenn  er  auch 

um  Lebens  und  Sterbens  willen  nicht  hatte  sagen  konnen,  was 

er  so  reeht  darunter  verstehe,"^ 
so  the  idea  of  freedom  is  not  definitely  expressed  in  the 
novel;  it  now  seems  to  denote  political  liberty,  now  again  it  di- 
rectly means  personal  freedom,  a  freedom  which  allows  the  in- 
dividual to  live  as  he  will,  if  thereby  none  of  his  fellowmen  suf- 
fers (155). 

Miinzer  is  the  typical  representative  of  the  South  German  revo- 
lutionist, inspired  by  the  ideals  of  the  French  revolution;  he 
even  addresses  a  partisan  by:  Citizen  Unkel  (569),^  and  Lassalle, 
besides  being  wont  to  take  with  predilection  his  ideas  from  the 
development  of  France^ — for  outside  of  Hegel  he  lives  in  the 
ideas  of  1789 — stood  with  his  whole  nature  for  the  democratic 
standpoint  of  the  rights  of  man.''  His  honest  compassion  for  those 
on  whom  he  saw  an  outrage  to  such  rights  committed,  was  point- 
ed out  above.  He  preserved  during  his  whole  life  his  sympathy 
with  the  hard  lot  of  the  working  people  and  proletarian,  which 
gave  him  the  ideal  of  his  youth,  to  help  the  feeble  and  oppressed, 
to  assist  in  their  fight  against  slavery  and  victimizing,  to  share 
the  task  of  leading  mankind  to  higher  forms  of  existence.* 

This  can  be  brought  about  only  by  interpreting  the  ethical  aim 
of  the  State  more  correctly  than  the  privileged  classes  do ;  by  not 
letting  the  State  serve  selfish  purposes  but  by  considering  it  the 
ethical  unit  which  has  the  function  to  perfect  the  development 
of  the  human  race  into  freedom.  For  ''die  Geschichte  ist  ein 
Kampf  mit  der  Natur,  mit  dem  Blende,  der  Unwissenheit,  der 
Armut,  der  Machtlosigkeit  und  somit  der  Unfreiheit  aller  Art, 
in  der  wir  uns  befanden,  als  das  Menschengeschlecht  im  Anfange 
der  Geschichte  auftrat.  Die  fortschreitende  Besiegung  dieser 
Machtlosigkeit  —  das  ist  die  Entwicklung  der  Freiheit,  welche 
die  Geschichte  darstellt. ' '  The  State  is  the  union  of  individuals 
in  an  ethical  totality,  a  union  which  increases  millionfold  the 
forces  of  all  individuals  included  in  this  union,  and  multiplies 
millionfold  those  forces  which  would  stand  at  the  disposal  of  all 
as  individuals.    The  purpose  of  the  State  is  to  enable  the  individ- 


1  Am  Wege,  p.  288. 

2  Oncken,   1.  c.  p.  227  ;   436. 

3  Prelgeboren,  p.  289. 

4  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  61. 

5  Unkel=rUnger,  Scliurz's  friond?     Cp.  Lebenserinnerungen. 


73 


uals  to  reach  through  this  union  such  a  level  of  existence  as  they 
could  not  reach  as  individuals ;  to  enable  them  ' '  eine  Summe  von 
Bildung,  Macht  und  Freiheit  zu  erlangen,  die  ihnen  samtlich  als 
einzelnen  unersteiglich  ware."^  Therefore,  the  individual  must 
be  merged  into  the  State  as  the  highest  ethical  totality.  This 
surrender  to  the  interest  of  all  is  Lasalle's  firmest  conviction  in 
politics.  Since  his  earliest  youth  he  had  seen  morals  and  right 
embodied  in  the  State.  The  enthusiasm  for  this  idea,  his  faith 
in  the  mission  of  the  State  as  the  promoter  of  right  and  civiliza- 
tion, not  onlj^  as  protector  pervades  all  his  writings.^  He  finds 
in  the  exacter  understanding  of  the  idea  of  State  the  source  ' '  aus 
der  alle  in  diesem  Jahrhundert  gemachten  Fortschritte  stammen 
und  weiter  stammen  werden. '  '^  Studying  Heraclitus  of  Ephesos 
he  has  as  disciple  of  Hegel  the  satisfaction  of  finding  that  the 
Greek  philosopher  agrees  with  his  master  in  the  stricter  concep- 
tion of  State.  For  Heraclitus'  Ethics  contains  the  eternal  basic 
thought  of  the  ethical,  the  devotion  to  the  common-weal,  which 
is  nothing  but  an  agreement  with  Hegel 's  philosophy  of  State.* 

This  is  the  devotion  which  Miinzer  demands  of  the  individual 
(384)  and  the  resulting  understanding  of  the  idea  of  State.  It 
has  been  pointed  out  that  therein  lies  the  reason  for  his  separa- 
tion from  his  democratic  friends  as  it  brought  about  the  enmity 
between  Lassalle  and  the  Progressionists  of  the  sixties.^  But 
although  Lassalle  and  Miinzer  value  the  idea  of  State  more 
highly  than  do  their  former  political  friends,  a  difference  must 
be  noted  in  their  estimation  of  political  liberty  in  relation  to 
German  unity. 

It  can  not  surprise  one  to  find  Lassalle  placing  the  unity  of 
his  fatherland  above  political  liberty.  His  drama  is  a  glowing 
plea  for  an  intimate  union  of  all  Germans.  Its  subject  has  an 
eminently  political  tendency.  Sikkingen  tries  to  persuade  the 
emperor  to  bring  with  the  help  of  the  nation  the  Reformation  to 
a  successful  close  and  to  subdue  the  princes.  Failing  in  this 
endeavor  he  sets  himself  about  to  break  the  power  of  the  prin- 
ces, the  real  enemies  of  the  empire  and  common  liberty.     Even 


1  Arbeiterprogramm ;  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  35-36. 

a  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  21. 

3  System  der  erworbenen  Recite.     Leipzig,  1861.     I.  p.  47. 

*  Die  Philosophie  Herakleitos,  etc.     H.  p.  437 ;  459. 

^  Cp.  above  p.  52-54. 


•^3^' 


74 

the  hope  for  a  Protestant  emperor  at  the  head  of  all  Germany  is 
voiced.    For  as  Franz  von  Sikkingen  exclaims : 

**Es  streicht  nicht  mehr  der  Luftzug  der  Geschichte 
Durch  solche  Landparzellen. " 

As  in  Lassalle's  drama,  so  it  is  in  his  pamphlet  "Der  italien- 
ische  Krieg  und  die  Aufgabe  Preussens;  eine  Stimme  aus  der 
Demokratie,"  also  of  1859,  that  he  demands  a  union  of  all  Ger- 
mans under  a  centralized  government.  He  points  out  that  Aus- 
tria had  been  the  main  obstacle  for  bringing  about  German  unity 
in  the  revolution  of  1848/49.  He  advises  Prussia  to  make  use  of 
the  favorable  moment  of  her  adversary's  weakness,  to  expel 
Austria  from  the  Confederation,  separate  Schleswig-Holstein  en- 
tirely from  Denmark,  unite  all  German  races  and  to  proclaim 
at  last  the  German  empire.  "With  emphasis  he  exclaims:  "An 
dem  Tage,  wo  Oesterreich  vemichtet  ist,  ist  Deutschland  kon- 
stituiert."  In  his  "Fichtes  politisches  Vermachtnis  und  die 
neueste  Gegenwart"^  and  in  his  speech  in  honor  of  Fichte,  May 
19,  1862,  the  admirer  of  the  revolutionary  genius  of  the  Great 
Frederic^  declares  it  to  be  the  highest  and  most  important  task 
of  the  present  time  to  establish  a  German  centralized  State  under 
the  leadership  of  Prussia,  and  places  the  question  of  political 
liberty  behind  that  of  unity.  He  attributes  to  those  who  want  a 
hereditary,  monarchical,  united  Germany  a  higher  degree  of  in- 
telligence and  political  truthfulness  than  to  the  German  repub- 
lican federalists.^  While  all  these  utterances  show  that  Lassalle 
after  having  learned  during  the  fifties  that  playing  revolution 
did  not  amount  to  much,  had  made  up  his  mind  to  work  for  a 
social  change  within  the  existing  State,  they  are  the  natural  con- 
sequences of  his  Hegelian  understanding  of  the  idea  of  State  and 
spring  from  thoughts  he  held  from  the  time  he  came  under  the 
influence  of  this  mind. 

How  far  this  estimate  of  the  idea  of  State  has  also  a  leaning 
towards  Monarchy  will  occupy  our  attention  in  studying  Leo's 
political  activity.  In  its  relation  to  political  liberty  it  stands 
paramount.  Political  liberty  as  liberty  in  itself,  Lassalle  believes 
firmly,  cannot  establish  a  social  order  in  which  everybody  is 
given  the  indispensable  basis  for  his  personal  advancement,  eco- 


1  Wallsrode's  demokratiscbe  Studien.     Hamburg  1860. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  145-6. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  157. 


75 

nomic  security.  Only  when  a  social  interest  is  placed  behind 
liberty,  can  liberty  have  any  importance  and  become  an  induce- 
ment for  the  bourgeois  or  citizen.  This  was  according  to  Las- 
salle  the  case  with  the  French  re"\^ution  of  1789.  It  was  a  revo- 
lution in  which  the  modem  middle  class  overturned  the  old 
feudal  society.  Under  Napoleon  they  fought  against  feudal 
Europe  for  the  landed  property  taken  from  the  emigrants,  for 
the  abolition  of  the  existing  monopolies,  for  freedom  of  competi- 
tion. The  question  was  how  to  break  the  yoke  of  feudal  pro- 
duction in  industry  and  agriculture  and  secure  respect  for  the 
liberty  of  capital.^  For  such  aims  the  bourgeoisie  had  energy 
and  was  filled  with  enthusiasm.  Mere  political  liberty,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  not  important  enough  for  the  bourgeois  and  can 
never  inspire  him  to  make  sacrifices.^  For  this  reason  Lassalle 
later  placed  the  social  interest  of  the  working  classes  as  a  motive 
behind  the  acquisition  of  political  liberty. 

With  Miinzer  liberty  holds  the  first  place  although  he,  too, 
wants  to  see  the  fatherland  united.  He  hopes  for  better  condi- 
tions than  the  large  number  of  thrones  and  the  multitudes  of 
churches  for  the  present  allow  (667)  but  this  hope  is  rather  for 
liberty  which  can  be  secured  by  abolishing  those  two  institu- 
tions than  for  unity  which  is  possible  only  by  their  destruction. 
In  all  his  utterances  (45;  416;  666)  as  in  those  of  his  radical 
friends  (573)  liberty  stands  first  and  he  speaks  in  the  same 
breath  of  the  liberty  of  Europe  (411).  The  revolutionary  con- 
spirators, led  by  him,  have  the  watch-word  "Liberty"  and 
"Death"  (574).  This  difference  between  Lassalle  and  Miinzer, 
equivalent  also  to  that  between  Spielhagen's  spokesman  in  DvH 
and  Miinzer  in  this  point,^  it  may  be  said  in  passing,  corresponds 
with  that  which  existed  between  Mons,  the  step-brother  of  the 
novelist,  who,  at  a  time  when  the  Nationalverein  was  not  yet 
thought  of,  frankly  demanded  the  unity  of  Germany  under  the 
lead  of  Prussia,  and  Spielhagen,  who  in  1847,  professed  only 
that  liberty  which  might  be  realized  in  a  republic*  It  would 
not  be  difficult  to  find  some  correspondences  also  in  the  charac- 
ters of  Miinzer  and  the  novelist  as  he  was  at  that  time. 


1  Cp.  below  p.  119 ;   132. 

2  Der  italieniscbe  Krieg,  etc.,  p.  54.  Arbeiterlesebueb.  Frankfurt  1863,  p.  63-65. 
Cp.  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  320-21 ;  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  81  ff. 

3  Cp.  above  p.  51. 
♦Henning,  1.  c.  p.  20-21. 


76 

Beside  the  difference  in  the  estimation  of  liberty  in  relation 
to  German  unity,  that  in  respect  to  the  equality  of  men  is  quite 
pronounced.  However,  as  this  question  holds  a  prominent  place 
in  the  labor  movement  of  Leo-Lassalle  it  suffices  here  to  say  that 
Lassalle  always  fought  for  equal  political  rights  for  the  work- 
men, and  not  for  social  equality.  When  he,  like  Miinzer,  worked 
for  putting  them  into  power  he  was  far  from  thinking  of  a  war 
of  extermination  against  the  ruling  classes,  as  the  other  is  said 
to  do  (646 ;  500) .  According  to  Lassalle,  the  period  of  the  fourth 
estate  began  in  1848,  they  want  to  make  their  principle  the 
ruling  principle  of  society.  In  this  estate  is  contained  no  germ 
for  the  growth  of  new  privileges  because  it  is  the  last  and  outer- 
most social  class,  and  therefore,  synonymous  with  all  mankind. 
Their  liberty  is  that  of  the  whole  human  race  and  their  rule  the 
rule  of  all.^  Lassalle  does  not  intend  to  start  a  separate  move- 
ment with  the  working  classes  but  to  raise  the  democratic  banner 
in  general.^  In  the  endeavor  to  realize  the  ethical  idea  of  State 
which  always  leads  him  he  works  for  the  adjustment  of  all  op- 
positions in  the  social  strata.^  From  conviction  and  by  virtue  of 
his  political  principles  a  trufe  democrat,  Lassalle  was  a  consis- 
tent and  victorious  defender  of  universal  and  direct  suffrage,  the 
champion  of  a  kind  of  government  by  the  masses  which  history 
never  saw  before.* 

8 

Which  now  is  the  form  of  State  in  which  the  ideas  of  liberty 
and  unity  are  to  be  realized  ?  In  order  to  attain  his  aims  Miin- 
zer will  blow  up  the  structure  of  modern  society,  externally  so 
stately  and  internally  so  wormeaten  (731),  abolish  the  State  as 
governed  by  the  police  and  erect  a  single  German  social  republic 
(386;  731;  735).  As  time  passes,  his  aims  become  international. 
He  wants  to  change  the  German  national  movement  into  a 
European,  even  a  cosmopolitan  and  enters  into  lively  negotia- 
tions with  republicans  of  other  countries  (500). 

Such  aims  were  far  from  Lassalle 's  mind.  They  must  rather 
be  ascribed  to  Karl  Marx.     He  was  international  and  thought 


1  Arbeiterprogramm.     Onckeo,  1.  c.  p.  219-20. 

2  Arbeiterlesebucb,  May  19,  1863.     Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  321. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  252. 

4  Brandes,  I.  c.  p.  29. 


77 

of  the  whole  world  at  once.  He  believed  equal  social  rights  pro- 
curable only  in  a  social  democratic  republic,  free  from  religion, 
and  his  ideal  was  a  confederation  of  European  republics.  Las- 
saUe,  on  the  other  hand,  thought  only  of  Germany  and  in  a  cer- 
tain sense  of  Prussia  alone.  It  may  be  that  Miinzer's  inter- 
nationalism is  a  reflection  of  Lassalle's  revolutionism  which 
manifested  itself  still  in  1861  during  his  journey  in  Switzer- 
land and  Italy,  when  he  went  so  far  as  to  call  on  Garibaldi  in 
Caprera  in  the  interest  of  Liberty.^  But  he  reminds  his  master 
Marx :  "  Do  not  forget  that  you  are  a  German  revolutionist  and 
that  you  want  and  must  work  for  Germany"  in  Febr.  1860,  and 
is  the  champion  of  nationality  as  one  of  the  forces  of  the  cen- 
tury while  Marx  treated  with  contempt  national  contrasts  and 
national  states.^ 

Moreover,  Lassalle  was  by  nature  a  personality  with  the  im- 
pulse to  act.  He  always  felt  as  a  politician  who  had  to  set  to 
work  in  the  State  into  which  he  had  been  born,  and  against 
vfhich  he  never  cherished  the  hatred  of  the  exile.  It  is  anyway 
questionable  whether  he  was  a  champion  pure  and  simple  of  a  re- 
publican form  of  State.  The  conflict  of  his  revolutionary  republi- 
canism with  his  strong  leanings  towards  aristocracy  which  ap- 
pears also  in  Miinzer  was  pointed  out  above.^  While  the  latter, 
however,  never  vacillates  in  respect  to  the  form  in  which  he  works 
to  erect  his  State,  Lassalle  was  always  given  to  inner  struggles 
and  conflicts  concerning  his  position  in  relation  to  monarchy. 
To  judge  by  the  numerous  utterances  contained  in  his  early 
speeches,  writings  and  letters,  he  must  have  been  a  confirmed  re- 
publican, yet  just  as  early  indications  are  found  which  speak  for 
the  contrary.  Republican  by  feeling,  it  was  natural  that  the 
events  of  1848/49,  the  period  of  Reaction,  the  Constitutional 
Conflict  and  not  the  least,  his  intimate  association  with  the  radi- 
cal wing  of  the  democratic  party  should  have  strengthened  his 
leanings  towards  a  more  liberal  form  of  State.  His  decided  feel- 
ing for  justice  in  union  with  a  spirit  of  contradiction  and  op- 
position, which  often  led  him  blindly,  made  him  see  in  the  acts 
of  Frederic  William  IV  nothing  but  absolutistie  arbitrariness 
with  the  purpose  of  robbing  the  people  of  their  rights  acquired 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  150. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  144. 

3  Cp.  above  p.  26. 


78 

by  the  revolution.  Well  versed  in  French  history  he  knew  to 
what  dangers  political  liberties  were  exposed  because  of  des- 
potic desires  of  the  kings  by  the  Grace  of  God.  On  the  other 
hand,  Lassalle  was,  as  we  have  seen,  an  enthusiastic  worshipper 
of  the  Hegelian  idea  of  State  in  respect  to  Prussia-Germany.  He 
could  see  only  in  the  Prussian  State  the  reality  of  an  ethical  will, 
or  in  Prussia  alone  that  State  in  which  the  ethical  will  could  be 
realized.  His  hope  for  a  united  German  empire,  too,  has  been 
pointed  out.  It  may  be  said  that  in  some  of  his  writings  he 
pleaded  for  this  unity.  Though  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life 
the  ideal  of  a  united,  republican  Germany  attracted  him  like 
Bismarck,  who  confessed  to  have  sometimes  believed  the  republic 
to  be  the  most  sensible  form  of  State,  many  facts  taught  Lassalle 
that  a  republic  in  itself  by  no  means  warranted  that  ideal  State 
he  was  striving  for,  and  led  him  to  the  belief  that  only  monarchy 
could  take  care  of  the  interests  of  the  whole  people.^  He  had 
also  a  deeper  understanding  of  the  historical  forces  of  religion 
and  national  ideas  than  his  radical  friends  and  saw  in  the  con- 
ditions which  confronted  him  no  obstacles  for  the  beginning  of  a 
change.  He  had  very  early  become  convinced  that  for  a  long 
time  yet  he  would  have  to  reckon  with  the  idea  of  monarchy. 
He,  therefore,  often  said  he  was  asking  the  State  only  for  its  lit- 
tle finger.  Eminently  practical  he  was  always  ready  to  com- 
promise with,  and  to  lean  on,  the  ruling  powers.  The  repubUean 
form  of  State  had  thus  for  him  not  that  importance  it  had  for 
Miinzer,  and  consequently  a  difference  in  the  choice  of  means 
which  both  employed  in  the  pursuit  of  their  aims  is  to  be  stated. 

Miinzer  has  "wie  die  Personifikation  des  dumpfen  GroUes, 
der  heimlichen  Erbitterung,  der  namenlosen  Leiden,  sie,  die 
Sklaven  der  Armut  und  der  Unwissenheit,  sie,  von  denen  keiner 
sich  zum  Widerstande  gegen  den  Druck  und  den  Stoss  eines 
armlichen  Geschieks  emporgerafft,  das  furchtbare  Wort:  Revo- 
lution buchstabieren  und  lesen  lassen,  durch  wohl  gesetzte 
Reden  aus  ihrer  Apathie  aufgeriittelt  und  auf geschreckt " 
(729).  When  after  the  first  storm  of  the  revolution  the  ruling 
classes  have  picked  up  courage  and  Reaction  feels  itself  again  in 
power  the  means  Miinzer  has  in  mind  take  more  and  more  the 


1  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  73-74 ;  cp.  below  p.  149. 


79 

shape  of  violence.  Like  Lassalle^  he  has  become  convinced  that 
political  questions  are  essentially  questions  of  "Who  has  the 
greater  power  ?  " ;  questions  which  can  never  be  answered  by  sen- 
timental policies,  such  as  he  with  his  democratic  friends  until  then 
have  advised  and  used.  He  has  decided  to  carry  his  ideas  through 
by  any,  even  the  most  extreme  means  (391).  Iron  must  heal  what 
medicaments  have  been  unable  to  cure  and  many  a  pyre  must 
bum  before  the  choke-damp  of  the  State  ruled  by  the  police  shall 
be  so  purified  that  a  free  breast  can  breathe  in  it.  The  art  of 
healing  the  sores  of  the  State  with  the  medicaments  of  gradual 
reforms  will  soon  be  exhausted,  and  then  the  ultima  ratio  of 
kings  will  be  also  the  ultima  ratio  of  the  people  (412).^  The 
rights  of  humanity  in  one  hand  and  the  sword  in  the  other,  only 
in  this  way  will  liberty  make  its  way  through  the  nations.  For 
the  dull  souls  of  priests  and  the  haughty  hearts  of  aristocrats 
cannot  at  once  beat  for  liberty  and  become  without  transition  en- 
thusiastic for  brotherhood.  Might  is  still  considered  right,  and 
therefore  right  must  be  mightier  than  might  (45)  ;  a  burgher 
army  must  be  created  that  the  people  in  arms  can  be  disarmed 
and  the  sores  of  the  State  be  healed  (412). 

Such  vigorous  speech  was  often  uttered  by  Lasalle.  He  was 
well  persuaded  of  the  impotence  of  ideal  right  if  not  maintained 
by  practical  minds  and  strong  wills  that  knew  how  to  choose  the 
right  means  and  measures  for  its  realization.  The  revolution  of 
1848/49  in  which  right  miserably  succumbed  because  of  ideal- 
istic dread  of  any  other  weapon  than  that  of  the  word,  had 
taught  him  the  weakness  of  this  weapon.  He  belonged  to  a  new 
generation  who  had  learned  to  give  their  ideals  a  sound  armor 
and  a  strong  sword.^  His  drama  is  full  of  expressions  indicative 
of  his  esteem  of  might  and  force  as  the  props  of  right.  Years  be- 
fore the  blood  and  iron  of  Bismarck,  Lassalle  appealed  to  the 
"eherne  Lose",  iron  is  to  him  "der  Gott  des  Mannes",  **die 
Zauberrute,  die  seine  Wiinsche  in  Erf iillung  schlagt, "  "  der  letzte 
Hort,  der  in  Verzweiflungsnacht  ihm  strahlt",  "seiner  Freiheit 
hoehstes  Pfand",  and  among  his  bellicose  expressions  appears 
also  Miinzer's  ultima  ratio  (412).*    It  is  one  of  the  main  traits  of 


1  Cp.  below  p.  80-82. 

2  Cp.  below  p.  79. 

3  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  42 :  39 ;  44. 

4  Arbeiterlesebuch  May  19,  1863 :  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  320. 


80 

his  character,  the  impulse  to  act  and  to  give  practical  proof  of 
his  powers,  which  always  breaks  forth.  As  a  young  man  of  23  he 
reproaches  the  National  Assembly  with  having  only  passively  re- 
sisted the  coup  d  'etat  of  Nov.  1848,  in  exclaiming :  ' '  Der  passive 
Widerstand  ist  der  innere  Wille  ohne  aussere  Tat, '  '^  and  in  view 
of  the  lack  of  energy  and  blunted  power  of  the  Liberal  parties 
over  against  Reaction,  his  praises  of  iron  as  the  God  of  man 
can  surprise  nobody.  He  has  the  deepest  esteem  for  real  power, 
and  his  Hutten  exalts  as  passionately  as  perhaps  only  Heinrich 
von  Treitschke  did,  to  quote  Oncken,  war  as  a  force  in  the  history 
of  the  world  furthering  civilization.  Everything  great  in  his- 
tory has  been  and  will  be  brought  about  by  the  sword,  and: 

"Est  ist  die  Macht  das  grosste  Gut  des  Himmels, 

Wenn  man  sie  nutzt  f  iir  einen  grossen  Zweck. ' ' 
This  accords  in  sound  with  the  music  which  Bismarck  had  in 
mind  to  compose  for  solving  the  question  of  German  unity.* 

No  doubt,  Lassalle  goes  sometimes  too  far  in  the  use  of  ex- 
pressions of  force.^  He  who  intended  to  influence  the  working- 
men  ethically  also  could  be  expected  to  teach  the  masses  that  the 
power  of  the  mind  stood  much  higher  than  the  strength  of  the 
fist.*  That  he  did  not  do  so,  may  find  its  explanation  in  the  fact 
that  from  the  beginning  of  his  political  work  the  men  of  the 
French  Convention  had  been  his  ideals,  and  might  and  its  pos- 
session gradually  became  to  him  everything. 

But  this  does  not  mean  that  Lassalle  earnestly  thought  of  em- 
ploying brutal  force  as  it  is  Miinzer  's  intention.  Right  and  Might 
are  the  two  poles  around  which  the  star  Lassalle  revolved  and 
the  main  activity  of  his  political  mind  was  the  consideration  of 
how  Might  and  Right  stand  to  each  other."  This  problem  was 
deeply  implanted  in  him  during  the  German  revolution.  The 
rights  of  the  people,  universal  suffrage  included,  successfully  ex- 
pressed by  this  movement  have  been  violated  by  the  Prussian 
Constitution  and  the  imposed  suffrage  of  1849/59 ;  Might,  there- 
fore, rules  in  the  State.  Lassalle  took  this  problem  up  again 
during  the  Prussian  conflict  in  1862  and  with  a  thorough  under- 
standing of  political  realities  could  hold  it  up  against  the  Liber- 


1  Assisenrede,  p.  34. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  130. 

3Cp.  e.  g.  "Was  nun?"  p.  28. 
*  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  155. 
6  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  38. 


81 

als  who  thought  of  settling  it  by  fighting  it  out  as  a  formal  legal 
question,  by  asserting  that  the  Progressionists  did  not  stand  on 
the  ground  of  right  but  on  its  violation.^ 

Lassalle  works  for  Right  having  the  necessary  Might  as  sup- 
port, and  Might  not  acting  without  Right.  In  "  Freigeboren " 
(292)  he  says,  that  his  and  Bismarck's  principal  maxim  is:  Might 
goes  before  Right,  but  while  the  Premier's  is  a  brutal  de  facto, 
his  is  de  facto  and  de  jure.  Right,  he  believes,  is  the  greatest 
Might  and  will  in  the  end  carry  the  day.  The  secured  rights  of 
the  people  which  in  the  last  instance  coincide  with  the  rights  of 
man  are  to  his  mind  the  necessary  condition  for  the  lofty  build- 
ing which  Bismarck  is  going  to  erect.  Right  must  be  the  ade- 
quate expression  of  Might.  During  the  Conflict  Lassalle  declares 
in  Berlin,  April  16,  1862,  that  the  Constitution  of  a  country,  if 
it  is  to  be  its  fundamental  law,  must  be  an  active  force  which 
makes,  by  virtue  of  necessity,  all  other  laws  and  legal  institutions 
what  they  are.  This  active  force  is  identical  with  the  actually  ex- 
isting conditions  of  power ;  they  determine  all  laws  and  legal  in- 
stitutions in  such  a  way  that  they  can  be  no  other  than  they  ac- 
tually are.  When  these  actual  conditions  of  power  find  expression 
in  writing  they  become  law  and  legal  institutions.  Questions  of 
Right  are  questions  of  Might  as  Miinzer,  too,  says  (147;  391).^ 
The  actual  constitution  of  a  country  exists  only  in  the  actually 
existing  condition  of  power,  found  in  the  country.^  Lassalle 
voices  these  thoughts  in  order  that  the  Constitution  of  Prussia 
be  the  expression  of  the  actual  conditions  of  power  existing  in 
this  country.  His  speech  is  an  historical  investigation.  He  does 
not  think  of  advising  his  audience  the  use  of  brutal  force  for 
giving  expression  to  the  actual  conditions  of  power.  Rather,  he 
was  compelled  by  the  misunderstanding  which  his  speech  caused 
among  his  adversaries,  who  interpreted  it  as  demanding  that 
Might  go  before  Right,  to  declare  in  his  pamphlet  "Macht  und 
Recht"  that  for  Right  to  go  before  Might  was  his  own  ethical 
standpoint  and  wish.  But  while  Right  should  go  before  Might, 
jVIight  goes  in  reality  before  Right  until  Right  has  gathered  suf- 
ficient Might  behind  itself  to  shatter  the  Might  of  wrong.  The 
history  of  Prussian  Constitution  has  in  his  opinion  consisted  in 


1  Hochverratsprozess ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  402,  cp.  p.  70. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  79. 

3  "Ueber  Verfassungswesen"  ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  211  ff. 


82 

a  series  of  violations  of  the  law,  and  in  the  Prussian  State  no- 
body is  entitled  to  speak  of  Right  but  the  old  and  true  demo- 
crats. They  alone  have  clung  to  Right  and  never  lowered  them- 
selves to  compromises  with  Might.^  The  imposed  Constitution  of 
1849/51  being  the  expression  of  Might  over  against  Right,  Las- 
salle  continued  the  attitude  he  took  in  his  Assisenrede  in  refusing 
to  take  part  on  this  legal  basis  in  the  political  life  of  the  New 
Era. 

Such  an  understanding  of  the  idea  of  Right  sufficiently  de- 
fends Lassalle  against  the  accusation  by  the  Liberals  of  thinking 
of  putting  Might  in  the  place  of  Right.  Indeed,  the  firm  belief 
in  the  victory  of  Right  over  Might  which  as  early  as  1848  was 
voiced  in  his  "  Kassettenrede "  as  a  warm  youthful  enthusiasm 
rising  from  his  innermost  souF  and  which  caused  him  to  re- 
proach the  Government  with  drawing  Right  from  the  mouths  of 
the  cannons  and  considering  soldiers  and  rifles  reasons,  while  he 
insists  that  the  sword  is  never  the  Right,^  has  never  allowed  him 
to  forget  that  he  wanted  to  be  the  champion  of  Right  against 
Might. 

The  difference  in  the  meaning  with  which  Lassalle  and  Miin- 
zer  speak  of  the  use  of  strong  measures  becomes  more  manifest 
when  we  consider  the  two  as  revolutionists. 

Miinzer  wants  to  receive  his  inheritance  here  on  earth,  not 
leaving  it  to  time  to  bring  about  the  necessary  reforms  (302), 
and  is  ready  to  break  the  privileges  of  the  ruling  classes,  even  by 
a  war  of  extermination  (650).  He  fights  for  his  social  theories, 
for  realizing  his  idea  of  a  new  world  (412)  and  tries  to  organize 
(125)  and  bring  the  social  revolution  (666)  to  a  successful  close 
(302).  He  wants  to  blow  the  sparks  into  a  mighty  flame  (676) 
and  takes  up  arms  for  a  social,  at  least  a  republican,  cause  (666). 

Very  likely  Lasalle,  too,  would  have  been  carried  away  by 
his  "glowing  soul"  to  join  his  friends  in  their  revolutionary 
rising  in  1848/49  if  good  luck  had  not  kept  him  behind  prison 
walls  at  the  critical  moments.  He  was  by  nature  a  revolutionist 
and  in  his  youth,  as  his  diary  shows,  this  was  equivalent  to  hav- 
ing revolutionary  tendencies,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word, 


r 


1  Macbt  und  Recht.     Otfenes   Seadscbreiben.     Ziiricb  1863.     Oncken,   1.   c   p. 
244  ff. 

2  Brandes,  I.  c.  p.  21. 

3  Assisenrede,  p.  16;  26;  48.     Arbeiterprogramm,  p.  8,  etc. 


83 

against  absolutism  and  nobility/  After  the  failure  of  the  Ger- 
man revolution  he  works  to  keep  up  the  fire  of  radical  agitation 
among  the  working  classes  in  Diisseldorf,  to  awaken  in  them  a 
class  spirit  so  that  as  he  writes  to  Marx,  June,  1852,  the  next 
revolution  should  find  them  a  more  compact  and  conscious  ma- 
terial than  they  were  in  1848/49.  As  a  revolutionist,  too,  he 
writes  his  Sikkingen  and  his  * '  System  der  erworbenen  Rechte  ; ' ' 
for  the  starting  point  of  these  two  works  is  the  German  revolution 
and  their  aim  the  desire  to  forge  the  theoretical  weapons  for  a 
new  revolution.^  But  Lassalle  soon  learns  to  know  that,  as  he 
writes  Marx  in  1860,  playing  revolution  with  the  working  peo- 
ple is  of  no  use.  Neither  practical  nor  theoretical  results  can  be 
shown  in  this  respect,  although  he  has  done  his  best  to  spread 
among  them  culture  and  the  consciousness  of  their  class  inter- 
ests. He  is  always  in  hopes  that  foreign  events  may  give  an  im- 
petus to  a  new  revolutionary  outbreak  in  Germany,  but  as  he  is 
disappointed  in  this,  he  becomes  more  and  more  aware  that  his- 
torical ideas,  like  religion  and  monarchy,  are  still  actual  reali- 
ties. And  so  it  comes,  that  large  parts  of  his  revolutionary 
Sikkingen  already  appear  to  be  the  work  of  the  Liberal-demo- 
cratic unitarian  who  with  a  deep  respect  for  historical  ideas,  still 
representing  actual  realities,  wishes  for  the  absorption  of  the 
smaller  States  and  thus  voices  the  desire  dominant  even  in  the 
camp  of  democrats  that  Prussia  might  become  the  leader  of  all 
German  races  in  a  new  empire. 

How  far  Lassalle  would  have  gone  to  meet  the  monarchy  is, 
because  of  his  early  death,  impossible  to  state  precisely.^  At 
all  events,  the  word  revolution  has  in  his  later  development  for 
Mm  a  different  meaning  on  the  whole  than  for  Miinzer.  It  is 
true,  that  self-interest  compelled  him  at  his  trials  to  deny  most 
vigorously  ordinary  revolutionary  imputations  and  some  allow- 
ances must  be  made  for  certain  utterances  of  his  on  this  point.* 
But  after  all,  when  he  as  early  as  1849  confesses  to  be  a  revo- 
lutionist by  principle,^  and  repeats  this  assertion  frequently  in 
later  years,®  there  is  nothing  to  be  found  in  his  writings,  speeches 


1  Cp.  above  p.  26 ;  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  29. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  166 ;  178-79. 

3  Cp.  below  p.  146. 

■♦  Oncken.  1.  c.  p.  369. 
5  Assisenrede,  p.  32 ;  49. 

«  Arbeiterprogramm,  p.  7 ;  An  die  Arbeiter  Berlins,  p.  13 ;  Hochverratsprozess. 
p.  12 ;  Die  Wissenschaft  und  die  Arbeiter,  P<  14,  etc. 


84 

or  actions  that  would  cause  one  to  interpret  the  word  revolution- 
ist in  Lassalle's  mouth  by  anything  else  than  social  evolutionist. 

To  be  sure,  he  believes  that  a  political  revolution,  under  certain 
circumstances,  is  preferable  to  a  legal  reform  which  may  re- 
quire centuries  to  be  brought  about  while  a  revolution  leads 
quickly  and  vigorously  to  a  practical  result.^  But  being  con- 
vinced of  a  coming  revolution  which  he  says  will  either  occur 
in  full  lawfulness,  and  with  all  the  blessings  of  peace,  if  the 
Government  is  wise  enough  to  decide  early  on  its  introduction^ — 
or  approach  within  some  period  under  all  convulsions  of  violent 
force  with  wildly  waving  hair  and  iron  sandals  on  her  feet,  he 
has  taken  up  the  task  to  teach  the  working  classes  to  improve 
conditions  reasonably  and  change  only  their  "chemical  func- 
tions" when  the  coming  revolution  shall  set  in.'^ 

And  then,  a  revolution  can  be  accomplished  in  deep  peace. 
Revolution  is  to  Lassalle  a  change  which  puts  a  new  principle  in 
the  place  of  that  existing ;  reform  on  the  other  hand  means  the 
preservation  of  the  existing  principle  and  its  development  to 
milder  or  more  consequent  and  juster  demands.  A  reform  can 
be  accomplished  by  insurrection  and  bloodshed.  The  horrible 
German  peasant  wars  were  the  attempt  at  a  reform  by  force  of 
arms ;  the  invention  of  the  cotton  spinning  machine  of  1775  and 
the  peaceful  development  of  modern  industry  are  gigantic  revo- 
lutions.* 

Moreover,  a  revolution  can  be  successful  only  when  it  is  the 
intended  expression  of  a  condition  of  things  which  exists  al- 
ready in  fact.  Lasalle,  therefore,  even  when  he  called  himself 
before  the  court  in  May,  1849,  a  decided  partisan  of  a  social- 
democratic  republic,  could  truthfully  say  that  in  his  speech  at 
Neuss  he  had  warned  his  audience  against  proclaiming  a  repub- 
lic because  such  an  act  would  to  his  mind  be  a  treason  to  the 
common  cause,  and  would  throw  the  apple  of  discord  among  the 
people  who  must  marshall  themselves  about  the  offended  law 
(the  dissolution  of  the  National  Assembly  without  any  right, 
etc.),'^  while  the  proletarian  at  that  time  wanted  nothing  but 


1  Arbeiterprogramm ;    Oncken,   1.   c.   p.   225 ;  cp.   Leo   I   296. 

2  Cp.  Leo  I  395  ;   509. 

3  Die  Indirekte  Steuer  und  die  Lage  der  arbeitendeu  Klassen  ;   Oncken,  1.  c.   p. 
369. 

•*  Arbeiterprogramm  ;  Die  Wissenschaf t  und  die  Arbeiter ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  225  ; 
5  Assisenrede,  p.  29  ;   4  ;   Oncken,   1.  c.  p.  65. 


85 


to  help  the  middle  class  protect  their  liberties,  rights  and  laws. 
For  the  time  to  realize  his  ideals  in  a  social  republic  had  not  yet 
come;  their  fulfillment  belonged  to  the  future.  But  Lassalle  be- 
lieves in  revolutions.  The  law  is  only  the  expression  and  the  writ- 
ten will  of  the  social  body.  When  the  need  of  the  social  body  has 
changed,  then  the  old  code  belongs  to  the  museum  of  history ;  in 
its  place  steps  the  new  image  of  the  present.^  The  same  opinion 
is  repeated  1862,  no  one  can  make  a  revolution;  one  can  but  give 
external  recognition  and  a  consequent  execution  to  a  revolution 
whicli  has  already  taken  place  in  the  actual  conditions.^  Every 
revolution  has  been  made  in  the  hearts  of  society  months  before  it 
comes  to  life  under  volleys.'' 

It  sounds  honest  when  Lassalle  mocks  at  those  who  on  hearing 
the  word  revolution  at  once  think  of  "brandished  pitchforks"* 
or  when  he,  one  of  whose  best  and  greatest  traits  was  the  worship 
of  the  achievements  of  German  thinkers  and  poets,  becomes  in- 
dignant at  the  imputation  of  his  being  an  ordinary  revolutionist 
and  exclaims: 

"Wie?  Es  hat  sich  jemand  in  einem  faustischen  Triebe  mit 
der  zahesten,  ernsten  Miihe  durchgearbeitet  von  der  Philosophic 
der  Griechen  und  dem  roraisehen  Recht  durch  die  verschieden- 
sten  Facher  historischer  Wissenschaft  bis  zur  modernen  Na- 
tionalokonomie  und  Statistik,  und  Sie  konnen  im  Emste 
glauben,  er  wolle  diese  ganze  lange  Bildung  damit  beschliessen, 
dem  Proletarier  eine  Brandfaekel  in  die  Hand  zu  driicken? 
Wie?  Hat  man  so  wenig  Kenntnis  und  Einsieht  in  die  sitti- 
gende  Macht  der  "Wissenschaft,  dass  man  dies  auch  nur  fiir 
moglicli  halten  kann?'"^  It  seems  hard  to  agree  with  Oncken 
(370),  when  he  also  in  this  passage  sees  an  expression  of  Las- 
salle's  denying  in  his  self-interest  before  the  court  any  practical- 
political  element  in  his  speech  to  the  Berlin  workmen. 

A  revolutionist  Lassalle  remained  to  the  last  of  his  days,  but, 
in  contrast  with  Miinzer,  an  ethical  Hegelian  aim  qualifies  his 
activity.  The  revolutionary  socialist — he  calls  himself  such  in 
a  letter  of  Jan.,  1862 — considers  with  Lothar  Bucher  the  possi- 


1  Assisenrede ;    Oncken,    1.   c.   p.    71. 

2  Arbeiterprogramm ;   Oncken,   1.  c.  p.   216. 
■i  Assisenrede,  Oncken,   1.  c.  p.  71. 

<  Die  Wiysenschaft  und  die   Arbeiter  ;  Oncken.   1.  c.  p.   251-52. 

^  ilie  indirekte  Steuer  und  die  Lage  der  arbeitenden  Klassen,  p.  117  ;  Oncken, 

1     f-     n      370 


1.  c.  p.  370. 


"'-■H^pfjJBJIp- 


86 

bility  of  overthrowing  the  existing  conditions  in  Germany.  They 
agree  that  a  change  of  society  is  the  sine  qua  non  for  a  revolu- 
tionary victory.  Lassalle  shows  to  the  future  right  hand  of  Bis- 
marck that  his  social  program  has  an  ethical  content,  endowed 
with  the  force  to  create  out  of  itself  a  new  society,  to  see  the 
political  form  as  its  formal  consequence  and  to  become  the  basis 
of  a  new  ethics.^  Changing  political  forms  without  establishing 
a  new  principle  of  an  ethical  nature,  appears  to  Lassalle  neither 
philosophical  nor  revolutionary,  and  his  principle  is  Hegel's  con- 
ception of  revolution  which  is  equivalent  to  social  evolution.^  Tt 
explains  Lassalle 's  further  political  conduct  as  well  as  proves  the 
great  difference  existing  between  him  and  Miinzer, 

There  was  originally  nothing  antimonarchical  in  Lassalle 's  la- 
bor movement ;  indeed,  years  after  his  death  his  followers  would 
rather  vote  for  a  Conservative  Representative  than  for  a  Radical. 
During  the  most  passionate  agitation  and  the  most  vehement  per- 
secution by  the  bourgeois,  Lassalle  never  gave  his  party  the  slight- 
est hint  to  make  practical  use  of  his  theory  of  succession.  In  his 
historical  investigations  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  such 
a  right  of  succession  is  but  the  title  of  the  social  bodj^  to  the  tes- 
tator's estate,  devolved  on  the  heir.-  In  spite  of  this  there  is  no 
passage  in  Lassalle 's  writings  or  speeches  that  could  be  inter- 
preted to  be  so  much  as  a  wink  to  his  friends  to  change  social 
conditions  by  a  revolution  and  abolish  private  property  as  a  theft 
to  the  common- weal. '^  His  economic  writings  contain  some  utter- 
ances which  say  there  is  the  indisputable  right  to  make  that  pro- 
perty of  the  future  which  has  not  yet  been  created  the  property 
of  labor  through  a  new  form  of  production,  but  he  exempts  capi- 
tal in  existence  since  it  has  been  produced  in  legal  accord  with 
existing  conditions.^ 

We  have  arrived  at  the  end  of  our  comparison  of  the  political 
activities  of  Lassalle  and  Miinzer.  We  have  seen  that  both  agree- 
ing in  many  points  of  character  and  talents  are  driven  by  similar 
influences  to  the  desire  of  changing  and  improving  the  existing 
social  conditions.  Miinzer  attempts  the  realization  of  his  ideas, 
with  a  social-political  struggle  of  Germany  in  the  background, 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  200  ;  203. 

2  System  der  erworbenen  Rechte  ;  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  49-69. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  183. 

4  Brandes,  1.  o.  p.  136. 


87 

which  appears  to  be  builded  on  the  formal  revolutionary  idea 
underlying  Lassalle's  historical  drama  "Franz  von  SikMngen." 
Both  fight  for  the  rights  of  man  against  the  ruling  classes  and 
demand  the  devotion  of  the  individual  to  the  State  as  the  highest 
ethical  union  and  totality ;  but  they  estimate  the  ideas  of  liberty 
and  jinity  of  the  fatherland  differently,  A  united  fatherland 
seems  to  Lassalle  more  important  and  desirable  as  offering  the 
exclusive  possibility  for  the  development  of  liberty  than  liberty 
itself,  while  Miinzer  fights  in  the  first  place  for  liberty.  There 
are  essential  differences  in  their  aims  and  the  means  they  advo- 
cate for  their  attainment.  Miinzer  becomes  gradually  an  inter- 
national republican,  who  by  an  armed  revolution  wants  to  estab- 
lish the  equality  of  all ;  he  may  be  called  a  composite  picture  of 
some  radical  exponents^  of  a  socialistic  current  starting  during 
the  German  revolution,  and  a  Lassalle  of  pre-epochal  days. 
Lassalle,  on  the  other  hand,  thinking  first  of  Prussia-Germany 
in  his  political  activity,  has  tendencies  which  can  come  to  terms 
with  monarchy.  From  a  vivid  sense  for  what  right  means  he  is 
revolutionist  by  principle,  i.  e.,  in  the  scientific  meaning  of  the 
word.  In  fact,  he  works  for  a  more  rapid  social  evolution  and 
fights  only  for  political  equality  of  the  working  classes  and  the 
proletariat.  The  external  political  activities  of  Miinzer  and 
Lassalle  agree  only  in  some  minor  points. 


1  Like  Marx  and  Kinkel. 


88 


III. 

Leo  Gutmann,  the  Socialist. 
1. 

Miinzer  holds  the  lower  middle  class  responsible  for  the  failure 
of  the  revolution.  They  have  betrayed  the  proletariat  to  the 
bourgeois  who,  with  material  favors,  have  bought  the  protec- 
tion of  the  nobility.  But  he  foresees  also  that  the  bourgeois  will 
tire  of  paying  tribute  to  the  ruling  class  and,  in  union  with  the 
lower  middle  class  and  the  proletariat,  will  take  from  them  the 
control  of  the  State,  trample  under  their  feet  at  the  moment  of 
victory  the  stupid  dwarfs  who  have  fought  their  battles,  and 
rule  henceforth  alone,  almighty  on  their  thrones  of  money  bags 
(666).  In  DvH  it  was  chiefly  the  noble  class  that  denied  the 
proletarian  an  existence  worthy  of  man,  in  IRuG  —  the  severity 
of  social  differentiation  is  universally  felt  only  in  the  period  pre- 
ceding the  revolution  (I  71;  124)  — it  is  the  bourgeois  party, 
the  party  of  almighty  capital,  against  which  Leo  Gutmann  is 
to  fight  in  the  interest  of  the  proletariat  (II  177). 

Leo  has  found  an  alluring  field  for  his  activity  through  the 
socialistic  influence  of  Tusky\  who,  however,  does  not  take  him 
entirely  into  his  confidence  (I  212)  and  conceals  from  him  the 
dire  consequences  of  his  teachings  of  liberty  and  equality  (I  221). 
Wlien  the  revolt  which  has  been  fostered  by  his  friend  (I  167; 
170;  174)  breaks  out  at  last,  Leo  is  only  an  onlooker,  and  this 
becomes  quite  important  for  his  future.  He  is  caused  to  ask  him- 
self whether  his  teacher  is  the  right  hero  to  bring  about  the  lib- 
eration of  the  people.  The  role  Tusky  plays  in  the  revolutionary 
rising  against  the  worldly  masters,  military  and  church  author- 
ity and  tradition  (I  171 ;  173 ;  175;  178)  fills  him  with  doubt 
(I  212;  215;  220-21)  and  the  horrors  of  forceful  suppression  dis- 
gust him.    Still  he  follows  Tusky  when  he  must  flee  (I  228).    For 


1  Cp.  above  p.  34. 


89 

among  all  people  he  esteems  and  loves  him  most  (I  222;  229), 
and  Tusky,  his  best  friend  (I  514),  has  as  long  as  he  has  lived, 
loved  no  one  so  well  as  Leo  (I  193).  Both  continue  abroad  their 
revolutionary  work  as  Lassalle  and  Marx  did  in  the  Rhenish  pro- 
vinces, and  their  further  relation  to  one  another  reminds  one 
strongly  of  that  which  existed  between  these  historical  persons. 

As  Lassalle  became  acquainted  with  Marx  only  after  having 
taken  up  his  residence  on  the  Rhine^  so  Tusky,  a  man  like  a  force 
of  nature,  must  be  considered  the  personification  of  the  radical 
socialistic  tendencies  with  which  Lassalle  became  acquainted  in 
Breslau,  blended  with  the  influence  w^hich  Karl  Marx  afterwards 
exercised  on  hira.- 

It  is  said  that  the  character  of  Tusky  has  been  drawn  from  the 
physician,  Dr.  Friedrich  Kuschke,  who  became  Spielhagen's 
friend  during  his  residence  in  Leipzig  1854-1860.^  But  if  the 
chronological  statements  are  taken  into  account,  Tusky  and  his 
revolutionary  activity  up  to  his  flight  are  evidently  only  the  poet- 
ical pictures  of  Lassalle 's  earliest  acquaintance  with  social  ques- 
tions. Of  course,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  a  novel  should  be 
chronologicalh^  exact.  Spielhagen  fixes  for  obvious  reasons  the 
time  of  Leo 's  main  activity  several  years  earlier  than  that  of  Las- 
salle's  actually  took  place  as  we  shall  presently  see.  In  the  sarhe 
way  he  had  attributed  to  Schmitz  in  DvH  progressionist  thoughts 
which  Schultze-Delitzsch  uttered  at  a  considerably  later  time.* 
IRuG  begins  with  events  which  occur  about  30  years  after  the 
great  war  (of  Liberation)  (I  16 ;  19 ;  39),  i.  e.,  in  the  fall  of  1843. 
The  following  year  Leo  is  17  (I  116;  163).  His  birthday  is  in 
spring,  consequently  he  was  born  in  the  spring  of  1825,  corre- 
sponding to  Lassalle 's  birth  on  April  11,  1825.  The  revolt  nour- 
ished by  Tusky,  breaks  out  in  December,  1844  (I  240),  and  about 
three  months  later  the  French  resp.  German  revolution  of  1848 
occurs.  The  scenery  in  which  the  novelist  takes  us  is  Thuringia,^ 
one  of  the  sites  of  the  revolutionary  events  is  Tuchheim.  His 
father  was  the  oldest  son  of  a  forester  in  Tuchheim  in  the  Alt- 
mark  and  generations  of  his  ancestors  had  followed  this  profes- 
sion.''   It  is  obvious  that  this  familv  history  has  contributed  to 


1  Cp.  above  p.  67. 

^Cp.  Tusky's  characterization  I  187-89;  207;  219;  230-31. 

•J  Henning  1.   c.  p.  85. 

*  Cp.  above  p.  53. 

3  Henning,   1.  c.  p.  19  ;   1 ;   19. 


90 

the  description  of  the  forester  family  in  the  Tuehheim  of  IRuG. 
It  would  seem,  however,  that  Spielhagen  chose  this  name  from 
the  following  incident,  which  plays  quite  a  role  in  Lassalle's  po- 
litical activity.  A  weaver  deputation  of  Wiiste-Giersdorf  in  Sile- 
sia, after  an  audience  with  King  William  I  in  1854,  received 
through  Bismarck's  intercession  some  money  from  his  private 
purse  for  an  industrial  enterprise  on  which  the  description  of 
Leo 's  socialistic  experiments  apparently  is  based.  Although  Las- 
salle  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  case,  he  made  use  of  the  success 
of  the  deputation  in  his  Ronsdorf  speech  of  May  23,  1864  by  de- 
claring that  his  labor  agitation  had  influenced  the  king  to 
promise  the  workmen  in  the  ''Tuchfabriken"^  owned  by  the  Pro- 
gressionist Representative  Reichenheim  a  State  regulation  of  the 
labor  question.  From  the  "Tuch  (fabriken"  of  Reichen)  heim 
to  Tuehheim  appears  to  be  a  short  step  in  Spielhagen 's  manner 
of  giving  names.  At  all  events,  this  deputation  hails  from  that 
district  in  Silesia  where  in  the  spring  of  1844  the  weavers  pre- 
pared their  uprising,  ' '  the  blood- judgment ' '  which  a  few  months 
later  was  suppressed  with  great  bloodshed.  Following  his  prin- 
ciple of  using  models  the  novelist  places  this  revolutionary  event 
in  the  forest  of  Thuringia,  the  beautiful  country  which  he  loved 
from  the  moment  he  saw  it.^  Tuskj^'s  revolt  is,  then,  but  the 
poetical  expression  of  the  rising  of  the  Silesian  weavers.  Lassalle 
was  just  leaving  for  Berlin  when  it  was  being  prepared,  but  it 
had  acquainted  him  with  its  problems  of  social  distress.*  So  Leo 
is  only  a  spectator  in  the  revolt  which  his  friend  has  aroused. 

But  while  Leo  has  already  been  informed  by  his  teacher  of  the 
great  gap  existing  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  and  of  the 
power  of  capital,  it  was  only  after  the  rising  of  the  Silesian 
weavers  that  Marx  impressed  it  on  Lassalle.  For  it  was  Marx, 
who  saw  clearly  in  its  very  beginning  the  difference  between  the 
bourgeois  and  proletarian,  that  taught  his  disciple  the  impor- 
tance of  the  working  classes  and  introduced  to  him  the  doctrines 
of  socialism.  Leo  is  enormously  indebted  to  Tusky  (I  514;  222). 
But  in  the  charmed  circle  of  the  latter  he  is  only  an  impetuous 
youth  without  clear  aims,  and  this  corresponds  fully  to  the  social- 
ism of  the  younger  Lassalle.    It  was  of  a  purely  Utopian  kind. 


1  Henning,  1.  c.  p.  19. 

2  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  161. 

3  Oncken,    I.    c.    p.    31. 


91 

At  the  time  of  the  German  revolution,  Lassalle  was  not  thinking 
of  any  differentiation  of  the  third  estate  and  when  he  spoke  of 
the  rights  of  man  or  of  the  people  he  had  the  whole  burgherclass 
in  mind  and  was  not  aiming  to  secure  for  the  working  class,  as 
such,  political  liberty  and  social  uplift.  Marx  and  his  partisans, 
on  the  other  hand,  recognized  the  particular  interests  of  the  pro- 
letariat within  a  capitalistic-industrial  society  which  began  to 
develop  in  Germany  after  the  revolution  of  1848.  They  imme- 
diately set  about  to  realize  the  ideas  of  communism. 

He  led  Lassalle  gradually  into  the  science  of  pure  and  unadul- 
terated socialism.  It  was  especially  Marx's  "Kritik  der  politis- 
chen  Oekonomie"  of  1857  which  showed  Lassalle  the  importance 
of  the  fourth  estate  and  convinced  him  that  the  organization  of 
the  masses  would  convert  the  proletariat  into  a  mighty  force.^ 
That  is  why  he  originally  intended  to  start  his  agitation  in  union 
with  Marx.  He  felt  deeply  the  superiority  of  the  latter  in  every- 
thing which  was  connected  with  economics.  Gradually,  however, 
their  relation  became  less  intimate.  It  does  not  seem  as  if  Marx 
appreciated  his  passionate  young  fellow-combatant  during  the 
revolution-,  as  Tusky  does,  however,  and  during  his  subsequent 
exile^  he  writes  only  when  he  wishes  for  something,  and  does  not 
comply  with  any  request  made  by  Lassalle.  It  is  the  latter  who 
always  makes  the  advances.  He  looks  up  to  the  former  and 
adapts  himself,  however,  without  any  surrender  of  views.  He  is 
in  sympathy  with  the  hardships  of  the  exile,  and  lends  him 
money,  but  Marx  does  not  return  his  friendly  feeling.  He  is 
even  more  susceptible  to  the  gossip  of  fugitives  than  confidence 
in  a  friend  should  have  allowed.*  It  was  Marx's  fault  that  their 
correspondence  came  to  an  end  in  the  fall  of  1855,  and  only  in 
the  spring  of  1857  did  Lassalle,  after  his  return  to  Berlin,  re- 
sume it. 

During  these  two  years  Lassalle 's  life  took  a  decided  turn.  The 
legal  combat  with  Count  Hatzfeldt  had  ended  successfully  in 
1854.  The  amateur  lawyer  received  henceforth  a  yearly  income 
of  4000  thalers  and  could  now  devote  himself  to  his  learned 
studies.  There  was  at  that  time  no  possibility  of  realizing  his  poli- 

1  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  29-30. 
-  Oncken,  I.  c.  p.  66  ;  391. 
3  Cp.  IRuG  I  338. 

*  Tusky    knows    more    about    Leo    than    the    latter    suspects    II    595 ;    cp.    also 
Tusky's  letter  I   323. 


92 

tical  aspirations.  The  issue  of  the  Crimean  War  destroyed  all 
hopes  that  it  miglit  lead  to  a  European  conflagration  and  Lassalle 
was  tired  of  playing  revolution.  He  sought  permission  to  return 
to  Berlin  to  finish  his  Heraclitus  and  was  at  last  permitted  to 
do  this  under  police  control  in  the  spring  of  1857.  After  a  short 
intermission,  in  which  he  was  compelled  to  leave  Berlin  by  order 
of  the  police,  he  was  given  by  decree  of  the  Prince  regent  in  No- 
vember, 1859,  the  liberty  to  take  up  his  permanent  residence  in 
the  capital. 

The  next  few  years  were  the  preparation  for  Lassalle 's  com- 
plete break  with  Marx.  As  early  as  October,  1849,  he  had  writ- 
ten the  latter  that  to  his  mind  no  further  combat  would  succeed 
which  should  leave  the  social  question  in  the  background,  and  ap- 
pear mainly  as  a  national  movement,  or  in  the  garb  of 
bourgeois  republicanism.  He  sees  the  guaranty  of  the  success  of 
the  democratic  ideas  onl}^  in  their  union  with  social  problems 
and  becomes  convinced  that  the  possibility  of  a  purely  "red" 
uprising  is  very  slight.  Like  Marx  he  is  watching,  therefore,  the 
development  of  European  affairs  as  the  condition  for  a  possible 
turn  favorable  to  their  aims.  But  foreign  affairs  proved  to  have 
little  influence  on  Germany.  Lassalle  had  new  hopes  when  in  the 
fall  of  1857  the  king  fell  sick  and  the  progress  of  his  ailment 
made  a  lasting  regency  by  the  Prince  of  Prussia  unavoidable. 
This  predicted  a  complete  change  in  the  inner  affairs  of  Germany, 
and  consequently  Lassalle  kept  quiet  in  order  not  to  lose  his 
chance  to  return  into  the  political  arena  at  the  moment  of  such  a 
changed  Never  having  detached  himself  from  the  national  State 
as  Marx  had  done,  he  could  call  to  life  a  social  democracy,  the  im- 
mediate aims  of  which  were  to  conquer  his  native  State. ^  The 
political  content  of  his  drama  points  to  those  aspirations  which 
were  qualified  by  the  changed  constellation  of  the  New  Era.^  It 
shows  its  author  on  the  point  of  turning  from  a  radical  idealist 
into  a  realistic  politician,  of  becoming  the  revolutionist  who 
strives  for  his  last  aims  within  the  existing  State.  Its  decisive 
problem,  the  ' '  deceiving  of  the  idea, ' '  is  deeply  founded  in  Las- 
salle's  own  nature.  It  is  not  only  the  problem  of  all  revolutions, 
but  of  all  practical  politics  which  longs  to  cling  to  its  principles 
but  in  the  actual  world  must  compromise  in  their  execution  if  it 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  106 ;  75  ;  112. 


93 

wants  to  see  results,  and  Lassalle,  whose  whole  nature  demands 
actions,  must  attain  something.^  He  conceals  his  ultimate  aims 
and  sides  with  Prussian  unitarians.^ 

He  is  very  different  from  Marx  in  this  respect.  He  wishes  to 
act  as  politician  in  the  State  in  which  he  was  born,  and  which,  as 
has  been  said  above,  he  did  not  hate  with  the  hatred  of  the  exile. 
He  sacrifices  some  republican  scrupulousness,  which  he  deems 
only  formalities,  and,  supported  by  Alexander  von  Humboldt, 
addresses  a  petition  to  the  Prince  regent  June  15,  1858,  for  per- 
mission to  reside  permanently  in  Berlin.  He  says  nothing  about 
this  petition  to  Llarx,  and  this  is  significant.  Marx  would  never 
have  handed  in  such  a  request,  because  he  felt  wholly  interna- 
tional. He  had  long  ago  advanced  to  a  conception  of  history  that 
knew  of  greater  developments  than  national  states.^  He  con- 
tinued working  for  a  revolution  like  Tusky  (II  596-97),  while 
Lassalle  had  become  tire  of  such.^ 

Besides  their  disagreement  over  Sikkingen,  of  which,  too,  we 
have  spoken-,  that  over  the  Italian  war  contributes  further  to 
their  separation.  Lassalle  wishes  Prussia  to  remain  neutral  be- 
cause lie  fears  that  a  fight  against  Napoleon  will  strengthen  the 
ties  between  the  king  and  his  people  and  prevent  any  revolution- 
ary movements.  Marx,  on  the  other  hand,  wants  to  see  Napoleon 
crushed  that  the  French  republicans  may  breathe  again  and  the 
European  hearth  of  revolution  be  kindled  anew.  From  the 
standpoint  of  European  liberty  he  sees  in  Austria  the  less  for- 
midable obstacle  ;  Lassalle,  from  the  standpoint  of  German  unity, 
considers  that  reactionary  country  the  most  dangerous  adver- 
sary. His  teacher  has  lost  all  feeling  for  the  imponderables  of 
the  national  State.  With  every  turn  the  differences  in  their  poli- 
tical thinking  become  greater." 

Agreeing  in  their  social  revolutionary  convictions,  it  is  sur- 
prising to  find  that  there  are,  after  all,  few  of  Marx's  thoughts 
to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  Lassalle  till  1862,  in  spite  of  his 
admiration  for  his  teacher's  economic  work  of  1857.  His  thoughts 
are  busy  with  the  problem  of  how  to  put  their  principles  into 
practice.  He  longs  eagerly  for  the  long  deferred  beginning  of 
practical  movements  as  against  theoretical  activity.*    Herein  his 

1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  130-31 ;  146  ;  144  ;  88  ;  90-91. 

-  Cp.  above  p.  66. 

3  Oncken,  I.  c.  p.  142-43  ;   152-53  :  158. 

*  Letter  to  Engels,  March  21,  1859 ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  373. 


94 

thoughts  differ  essentially  from.  Marx's.  It  results  in  personal 
animosity.  Marx  sees  in  any  transaction  with  other  social  groups 
a  weakening  of  their  principles,  while  his  disciple  defends  the 
policy  of  uniting  as  far  as  possible  with  the  related  groups  of  the 
democratic  Left.^ 

Nevertheless,  when  William  I  mounted  the  throne,  January, 
1861,  and  an  act  of  pardon  permitted  former  fugitives  to  return 
to  Prussia,  Lassalle  asked  Marx  to  come  to  Berlin.     Here,  dur- 
ing the  contest  for  power  of  the  different  political  groups  of  the 
kingdom,  he  intended  to  take  up  again  the  action  which,  because 
of  the  failure  of  the  revolution  of  1848,  had  been  cut  short  on 
the  Rhine,  and  to  tear  a  social  and  democratic  labor  movement 
from  the  wing  or  even  from  the  back  of  the  Liberal  parties^  by 
establishing  a  paper  like  the  Neue  Rheinische  Zeitung.     Marx 
came  for  a  short  stay  to  Berlin  in  the  spring  of  1861.^    But,  hav- 
ing lost  Prussian  citizenship  and  not  being  permitted  by  the  po- 
lice to  regain  it,  he  was  prevented  from  standing  at  the  side  of 
Lassalle  as  either  friend  or  foe  when  the  latter  opened  his  new 
political  activity  of  the  next  few  years.     In  his  place  Lothar 
Bucher  came  to  exercise  a  good  influence  on  Lassale.    During  his 
exile  in  England  he  had  learned  that  only  real  forces  govern  his- 
torical developments.    With  this  realism  gained  by  experience, 
he  stood  now  at  the  side  of  the  agitator's  radical  idealism  and 
helped  it  further  along  on  its  way  to  political  realism.     It  was 
with  Bucher  instead  of  Marx  that  Lassalle  took  counsel  on  his 
next  political  plans,  which  put  in  an  appearance  in  his  speeches 
"Ueber  den  besonderen  Zusammenhang  der  gegenwartigen  Ge- 
schiehtsperiode  mit  der  Idee  des  Arbeiterstandes"  on  April  12, 
1862,  published  later  under  the  head-title,  "Arbeiterprogramm," 
and  *  *  Ueber  Verf assungswesen, ' '  on  the  16th.    He  had  found  his 
way  and  was  looking  for  assistance.    He  tried  to  win  Marx,  and  a 
complete  rupture  of  their  relations  was  the  result.    Their  corre- 
spondence in  1861  on  Lassalle 's  System  der  erworbenen  Rechte, 
which  did  not  find  the  expected  approval  of  Marx  with  his  ma- 
terialistic understanding  of  history,  had  put  their  friendship  to 
further  trial.    In  July  of  that  year  Marx  ceased  to  continue  the 
correspondence,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  note  in  the  follow- 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  152-54. 

2  Tusky's  return  II  459?     Cp.  the  time  of  his  short  note  to  Leo  as  agreeing 
with  Marx's  to  Lassalle  in  Sept..  1861,  above  p.  12,  below  p.  94. 


95 

iiig  September,  and  when,  in  June,  Lassalle  answered  a  letter  of 
his  teacher,  sent  at  the  end  of  April,  1862,  he  could  tell  him  with 
a  manifest  satisfaction  what  he  had  accomplished  in  the  mean- 
time and  announce  his  impending  visit  to  the  London  Exposi- 
tion. Here,  in  July  and  August,  they  saw  each  other  for  the  last 
time.^  It  came  to  a  complete  political  and  personal  rupture. 
Marx  disapproved  the  Arbeiterprogramm  and  refused  to  work 
with  its  author.  He  saw  that  his  disciple  had  wandered  too  far 
from  his  teacher's  ideas.  Indeed,  at  the  close  of  1862  Lassalle 
showed  his  complete  change  in  theory  and  tactics  by  throwing  a 
bridge  to  Rodbertus,  the  first  Prussian  State  socialist  who  be- 
lieved in  a  strong  autocratic  power  which  best  could  solve  the 
social  problem,  and  saw,  therefore,  in  the  regulation  by  the  State 
of  all  production  the  necessary  panacea.  The  only  point  of  im- 
portance which  separated  them  was  universal  suffrage,  to  which 
Rodbertus  was  opposed. 

Spielhagen's  intimate  knowledge  of  everything  which  relates 
to  Lassalle  is  again  evident  when  we  consider  the  utterance  by 
Marx  on  the  cause  of  his  rupture  with  his  former  disciple,  made 
in  1868,  i.  e.,  after  IRuG  had  been  published.  Mark  blames  Las- 
salle for  having  allowed  himself  to  submit  to  the  immediate  poli- 
tical circumstances.  He  made,  Marx  writes,  his  opposition  against 
a  dwarf  like  Schulze-Delitzseh,  State-help  against  self-help,  the 
center  of  his  agitation ;  he  could  do  this  for  the  sake  of  practic- 
ability only  and  had  to  make  concessions  to  the  Prussian  mon- 
archy, the  Prussian  reaction  or  Feudal  party  and  even  to  the 
clerical.  His  common  suffrage  is  a  mistake,  as  France  shows,  and 
in  not  seeking  the  actual  basis  for  his  agitation  in  the  real  ele- 
ments of  class  movement,  but  prescribing  a  certain  doctrinary 
recipe  for  the  course  of  the  latter,  he  disavowed  all  natural  con- 
nection with  the  former  revolutionary  movement.  This  utter- 
ance gives,  also,  proof  for  Lassalle 's  invitation  to  Marx  in  Lon- 
don to  place  himself  in  union  with  Lassalle  at  the  head  of  the 
new  movement.  But  Marx  refusing  it,  Lassalle  alone  and  by  his 
own  initiative,  became  the  leader  of  the  German  social  demo- 
cratic movement.^ 

As  Leo's  political  activity  after  his  choosing  his  own  way  will 
prove  to  correspond,  in  many  respects,  with  Marx's  criticism  just 

1  TuBky  returns  to  England  after  his  visit  in  Berlin,  II  598. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  233-34. 


96  J 

given,  so,  too,  all  the  steps  leading  to  a  separation  of  Tusky  and 
Leo  can  be  found  in  Spielhagen's  representation. 

If  we  leave  aside  the  friendship  between  Tusky  and  Leo,  which 
is  more  intimate  than  that  which  ever  existed  between  Marx  and 
Lassalle  and  presumably  must  be  considered  a  monument  to 
Spielhagen's  friendship  with  his  strange  and  unhappy  friend, 
Kuschke,  whose  life  story  underlies  that  of  Konrad  Wild  in  * '  Ul-  -' 
timo,"^  Leo's  character  is  just  as  unlike  that  of  his  teacher  as 
was  Lassalle 's  unlike  that  of  Marx.  It  was  a  matter  of  course 
that  he  should  outgrow  the  domination  Tusky  was  exercising 
over  him.  He  begins  to  see  that  the  latter  and  his  kind  start 
from  the  principle  that  the  old  has  simply  to  be  overthrown  in 
order  to  permit  the  new  to  grow  of  its  own  accord,  and  believes 
this  is  at  the  best  the  philosophy  of  Titans  by  which  the  cos- 
mos will  go  to  ruin.  Tusky 's  party,  moreover,  always  deliber- 
ates only  questions  of  coups  de  main  and  makes  no  progress 
since  it  operates  with  unorganized  forces  (I  323).-  Leo,  while 
listening  to  plans  which  have  been  discussed  a  hundred  times, 
determines  to  make  an  attempt  of  his  own  in  some  other 
way.  He  becomes  a  realistic  politician  by  deciding  to 
employ  disciplined  forces  for  his  aims.  An  act  of  amnesty  al- 
lows him  to  take  up  his  residence  in  the  capital.  This  love  of  the 
fatherland  on  the  part  of  Leo  reflects  Lassalle 's  desire  to  work  in 
his  native  State,  even  if  it  cannot  be  said  that  be  longed  to  live  in 
Berlin,  the  great  city  where  the  destinies  of  the  German  revolu- 
tion wero  to  be  decided.  Though,  like  Leo,  he  had  given  all  his 
thoughts  and  efforts  to  the  revolution,  his  energies  were  now  con- 
centrated entirely  on  his  scientific  work,  as  documents  show  over 
against  the  older  belief  of  which  Spielhagen  makes  use.'^  This 
love  compels  Leo  to  return  from  abroad.  Only  in  the  fatherland 
can  something  good  be  done,  and  real  liberty  can  go  out  to  the 
nations  only  from  Germany.  Leo  has  a  high  opinion  of  his  coun- 
trymen. The  liberty  which  he  has  found  in  England,  France  and 
the  United  States  of  America  is  not  that  libertj^  which  must  be 
the  lot  of  the  Germans,  for  over  there  the  people  cannot  trace 
premises  into  consequences  (I  295) .  His  studies  are  the  sufferings 


3  Finder  und  Erflnder.     II.  353-65  ;  Henning,   1.  c.  p.  85. 

2  Cp.  Lassalle'u  opinion  on  the  organization  of  the  masses  and  transactions 
with  other  related  groups  which  already  have  been  organized,  above  P- 
91  ;  94. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  92. 


97 

of  mankind,  especially  those  of  his  own  nation.  They  are  connect- 
ed with  the  social  evils  which  only  a  great  political  reform,  perhaps 
only  a  complete  revolution,  can  heal  (I  295)  wherein  an  agree- 
ment with  Lassalle  has  to  be  stated.'  But  in  spite  of  the  separa- 
tion which  has  now  begun,  Leo  keeps  up  a  kind  of  connection 
with  Tusky.  Whenever  he  undertakes  an  important  step  he  tries 
to  come  to  an  understanding  with  his  teacher  as  Lassalle  in  all 
his  actions  allows  himself  to  be  strongly  influenced  by  Marx's 
opinions  and,  whenever  he  is  about  to  lay  his  plans,  examines 
them  from  his  master's  standpoint,  as  his  letters  show  and  we 
pointed  out  above. ^ 

2. 

In  contrast  with  the  political  life  of  Miinzer  that  of  Leo  is 
drawn  almost  wholly  from  the  historical  activity  of  the  founder 
of  German  social  democracj'.  Even  where  at  the  first  glance  dif- 
ferences seem  to  exist  they  will  at  a  closer  examination  appear 
as  poetical  representations  of  thoughts  or  actions  which  Lassalle 
expressed  or  performed. 

Seven  years  after  the  revolution  of  March  —  about  as  long  as 
Lassalle  was  not  permitted  by  the  police  to  live  in  Berlin  — 
Leo  returns  to  the  capital,  the  city  where  the  revolution  took 
place,  the  battlefield  on  which  the  destinies  of  his  people  will  be 
decided.  That  is  why  he  has  to  come  here,  in  contrast  with  Las- 
salle, who,  as  has  just  been  pointed  out,  had  other  interests  which 
urged  him  to  seek  permanent  residence  in  Berlin.  But  Leo  comes 
with  true  Lassallean  faith  in  himself,  the  faith  which  fixes  the 
limits  to  his  ability  only  in  his  will.^  He  is  sure,  as  of  his  life, 
that  he  is  going  to  wield  some  day  the  power  which  he  needs  for 
curing  the  sick  people,  the  power  of  bestowing  liberty  on  them 
(I  296,  cp.  265).  He  proposes  to  make  his  way,  and  this  way 
shall  lead  upward.  For  today,as  well  as  thousands  of  years  ago, 
the  destinies  of  nations  lie  in  the  hands  of  the  mighty  (I  271) .  As 
Lassalle  expresses  it  when  he  answers  Marx's  statement,  that  the 
fall  of  the  reactionary  Sikkingen  was  an  historical-philosophic 
necessity,  the  transforming  and  deciding  efficacy  of  individual 
resolutions,  not  the  critical-philosophic  view  of  history,  is  the 

1  Cp.  above  p.  84. 

2  Cp.  also  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  64. 

3  0ncken,  1.  c.  p.  372. 


98 

implicit  supposition  for  revolutionary  activity,  the  ground  for  a 
great  deed.'^ 

After  having  satisfied  the  police  (I  253)  who  were  intent  on 
keeping  all  persons  with  bad  political  records  away  from  the 
capital,  at  the  time  of  Lassalle's  endeavor  to  be  allowed  to  re- 
turn to  Berlin,  Leo  joins  the  Liberals.  This  conforms  also  to  the 
history  of  Lassalle,  who,  because  of  the  success  of  his  Heraclitus, 
became  a  member  of  the  Philosophic  Society  of  Berlin  November 
28,  1857,  and  so  entered  into  intercourse  with  people  belonging 
to  tlie  Liberal  parties  while  he  was  led,  through  his  publisher, 
Franz  Duncker,  the  proprietor  of  the  "Volkszeitung,"  the  pa- 
per of  the  Berlin  lower  middle  class,  into  contact  with  the  demo- 
cratic wing  of  the  Liberals.  It  may  be  said  in  passing  that  the 
heroine  of  "  Freigeboren "  being  modelled  on  the  wife  of  the 
publisher,^  with  whom  Spielhagen  was  on  terms  of  intimate 
friendship,  is,  therefore,  a  good  authority  on  Lassalle,  which  is 
proved  also  by  her  agreement  with  Oncken.''  While  the  Demo- 
crat was  now  prevented  by  police  super%dsion  from  being  active 
politically  after  the  completion  of  his  Heraclitus  and  while  the 
working  class,  in  addition,  as  yet  without  a  class  spirit,  were 
marching  in  the  train  of  the  democrats  of  the  Volkszeitung,  the 
time  was  to  come  when  he  should  take  an  attitude  towards  these 
Liberals  such  as  Leo  takes. 

The  king,  who,  in  order  to  be  a  god,  lacks  only  that  immortal- 
ity which  he  might  have  secured  by  resolving  to  become  the 
father,  the  benefactor  of  his  people,  by  placing  himself  under 
their  protection,  proclaiming  the  republic,  himself  its  president, 
by  accomplishing  great  deeds,  a  peaceful  revolution  such  as  the 
world  never  saw  (I  270),  has  been  reigning  four  years,  but  has 
only  ruined  the  rich  inheritance  of  the  revolution  and  brought  at 
an  enormous  expense  Reaction  into  the  country  (I  271).  Leo 
finds  that  the  Liberals  exhibit  no  energy  in  their  fight  against 
Reaction  such  as  he  deems  necessary,  nor  do  they  do  anything  for 
the  solution  of  the  social  problems.  Instead  of  re-enforcing 
themselves  from  those  classes  from  which  they  themselves  have 
come,  they  lean  on  the  cousin  of  the  reigning  king  because  in 
their  contest  with  the  reactionary  government  they  feel  that  they 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  125-26. 

2  Henning,  1.  c.  p.  136. 

3  Cp.   abovp   p.   9. 


99 

lose  the  ground  under  their  feet  (I  312).  So  Lassalle  reproaches 
the  Progressionists  for  coquetting  with  the  princes.^  For  Leo 
stands  on  the  side  of  the  proletariat  (I  494).  He  distrusts  the 
Liberalism  of  the  prince  and  his  friendship  for  the  people  in 
which  the  Liberals  believe. 

Dissatisfied  with  the  compromises  the  Liberal  parties  make 
with  the  party  of  the  prince,  who  antagonizes  the  Government, 
Leo  goes  his  own  way.  An  open  rupture,  however,  does  not  yet 
take  place,  for  he  differs  from  the  Liberals  only  in  the  choice  of 
means  (I  350).  He  writes  pamphlets  on  the  social  and  political 
questions  with  truly  Lassallean  vigor:  Quod  medicamenta  non 
sanant,  ferrum  sanat,  etc.  (I  296),  and  from  a  lofty  viewpoint 
and  with  a  penetration  unheard  of  in  the  trite  doctrines  of  the 
Liberals  (I  282).  The  new  House  has  convened  (I  285).  In  a 
waA^  that  recalls  to  mind  the  famous  theft  of  the  valise  in  the 
Hatzfeldt  affair  —  Leo  also  acknowledges  his  moral  complicity 
as  Lassalle  was  accused  of  it  (I  454;  489)-  —  undeniable  proofs 
of  the  reactionar}^  disposition  of  the  prince  fall  into  the  hands  of 
Leo.  A  letter  of  the  prince,  addressed  to  the  archenemy  of  all 
European  liberty,  shows  its  writer  to  be  a  decided  antagonist  of 
all  constitutional  governments  and  a  cynical  scoffer  at  the  aims 
of  the  Liberal  parties.  As  Lassalle  endeavored  to  make  the  Pro- 
gressionists decline  any  negotiation  with  the  Reactionaries,  so 
Leo,  with  the  help  of  this  letter,  does  his  best  to  separate  the  Lib- 
erals from  their  protector,  and  to  spur  them  to  greater  activity 
(1368). 

But  informing  them  of  the  contents  of  the  letter  has  not  the 
intended  effect,  and  the  gap  that  has  opened  between  Leo  and 
the  Liberals  widens.  He  advocates  " Staatssubvention "  (I  349 — 
Lassalle 's  "Staatsintervention")^  in  a  (progressionist)  work- 
iiigmen's  union  or  club,  which,  as  might  be  expected,  arouses  bad 
feeling  among  the  Liberals,  the  enthusiastic  champions  of  self- 
help.  They  work  harder  to  regain  Leo,  to  save  his  great  power 
from  error,  perhaps  from  ruin  (I  385),  and,  although  the  ideol- 
ogists among  them  are  opposed  to  making  further  concessions  to 
the  party  of. the  prince  (I  397),  they  do  not  meet  Leo's  demands 
(I  398).    He  sees  the  approach  of  a  social  revolution  which  will 


J  "Die  Feste,  die  Presse,  etc."  ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  336. 

2  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  15.  Cp.  above  p.  67. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  312. 


100 

be  terrible  because  selfishness  prevents  the  different  parties  from 
preparing  to  break  its  force  (I  395)/  and  because  where  a  deeper 
understanding  of  social  questions  exists  there  is  impotence  or 
fear  (1395). 

Against  the  Liberals,  who  do  nothing  but  talk  while  the  people 
starve  (I  398),  Leo  writes  at  the  end  of  winter  (I  405)  a  pamph- 
let, "What  they  ought  to  be  and  what  they  are"  (I  427),  hoping 
to  rouse  them  from  their  lethargy  and  show  them  the  futility  of 
their  discussions  (I  433).  In  this  pamphlet  we  recognize  Las- 
salle's  speech,  "Ueber  Verf assungswesen, "  of  April  16,  1862,  in 
which  he  calls  on  the  unorganized  forces  of  the  Prussian  social 
body  to  enter  with  a  democratic  program  into  the  fight  of  Might 
against  Right.-  Leo's  pamphlet  creates  the  greatest  sensation  in 
the  political  circles  of  the  capital  (I  416).  No  one  before  has 
brandished  with  such  mastery  the  lash  of  sarcasm.^  The  capital- 
ists see  that  Leo  intends  to  make  use  of  the  labor  question,  which 
at  the  present  stands  in  the  foreground,  to  push  himself  into  tlie 
highest  political  spheres,  while  he  works  openly  against  them  as 
the  respresentatives  of  a  moderate  Liberalism,  read}'  for  conces- 
sions to  the  Government  or  the  princely  party  (I  425). 

But  the  pamphlet  has,  after  all,  just  as  little  effect  as  the  in- 
formation given  about  the  letter  of  the  prince.  Leo  is  now  con- 
vinced that  the  Liberals  are  not  acting  honestly  towards  the  peo- 
ple and  sees  that  he  must  over-ride  them  (I  398).  But  his  pamph- 
let means  an  open  quarrel  with  the  Liberal  party  (I  425).  Leo 
sees  that  the  pack  have  felt  his  lash,^  but  he  still  determines  to 
chastize  them  with  scorpions  (I  427).  In  contrast  with  Tusky, 
he  plans,  however,  not  only  to  tear  down,  but  to  build  up.  His 
old  teacher  has  warned  him  by  letter  against  any  attempt  witli 
the  Liberals*  or  with  the  monarchy,  although  Leo,  says  lie,  finds 
here  the  power  which  he  respects  above  all.  Between  these  tv/o 
on  the  one  hand,  and  the  revolutionary  radicals  on  the  other,  no 
alliance  is  possible.  But  Leo  has  learned  (I  181)  that  he  who 
will  accomplish  something  must  also  will  the  means  (I  325)  and 
resolves,  after  his  ill  success  with  the  Liberals,  to  make  a  trial 
with  the  monarch V. 


1  "Die  indirekte  Steuer,  ets.,"  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  3G9.      Cp.  above  p.  84. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  214. 

3  Preigeboren,  p.  289  ;  288. 

*  Cp.  above  p.  94.     Marx  is  opposed  to  transactions  with  related  social  groups, 
over  against  Lassalle. 


101 


Such  a  trial  is  all  the  more  tempting  as  the  labor  question 
stands  in  the  foreground.  While  the  House  is  in  session  (in  the 
same  old  humdrum  way),  disturbances  break  out  in  the  spring 
(of  1858)  in  the  district  of  Tuchheim,  where,  after  the  rising  of 
1844,  factories  have  been  built.  Leo  sees  that  Tusky's  friends 
have  well  prepared  the  ground  during  the  past  years.  He  will 
make  use  of  these  disturbances,  for  he  sees  that  his  time  is  ripe. 
He  now  feels  the  power  in  him  to  give  the  movement  that  direc- 
tion he  pleases:  "Anvil  or  hammer!  there  is  no  third  way" 
( I  434) .  Since  nature  and  circumstances  have  made  him  a  lonely 
man,  even  as  Lassalle  counted  himself  among  the  "ohnehin  so 
Vereinsamten "  who  defend  the  poor^  so  Leo  will  not  march  in 
rank  and  file  with  the  Liberals,  but  bring  to  life  in  his  own  way 
what  he  first  dreamt  and  then  knew  to  be  real  (I  439 ;  cp.  I  542). 
He  does  not  want  to  come  to  an  understanding  with  the  ideolog- 
ists, which  he  is  asked  to  do  in  a  rejoinder  of  the  Liberals  (I  433) , 
a  situation  which  reflects  perhaps  a  judgment  on  Lassalle  by  the 
democratic  Volkszeitung  of  January,  1863."  They  fight  their  bat- 
tles always  in  the  pure  ether  of  thought  and  their  blows,  there- 
fore, are  wont  to  strike  the  empty  air.  These,  sentimentalists  as 
they  are,  intend  to  do  great  things,  but  allow  themselves  to  be 
turned  from  their  paths  by  private  considerations.  The  anguish 
of  soul  with  which  he  himself  has  successfully  contended  for  lib- 
erty gives  him  the  right  now  with  cold  blood  and  a  clear  head  to 
employ  his  means  for  his  great  aim,  whatever  may  be  the  oppo- 
sition from  these  visionary,  good  souls.  He  knows  what  sad  roles 
these  play  in  the  rough  world  of  pitiless  realties  (I  434). 

Leo  sends  out  a  second  pamphlet  —  a  combination  of  Lassalle 's 
Arbeiterprogramm  and  Offenes  Antwortsehreiben — in  which  the 
com7non  man  reads  with  surprise  to  what  great  things  he  is  call- 
ed (I  451).  Hereby  we  are  reminded  of  the  words  which  Lassalle 
addresses  to  the  working  people  in  his  Arbeiterprogramm:  "Die 
liohe  weltgeschichtliche  Ehre  (to  be  destined  to  have  their  princi- 
ple the  ruling  principle  of  the  whole  social  body)  muss  alle  Ihre 
Gredanken  in  Anspruch  nehmen."  This  pamphlet  causes  the 
government  party  to  jubilate  over  the  boldness  with  which  Leo 
has  uncovered  all  defects  of  the  Liberal  parties,  whereby  again 

1  Die  indlrekte  Steuer,   etc. ;   Kapital  und  Arbeit ;    Oncken,   1.   c.   p.   356  ;    348 ; 
cp.  below  p.  121. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  244. 


102 


we  are  reminded  of  Lassalle,  whose  Offenes  Antwortschreiben, 
with  its  attacks  on  the  Progressionists  as  the  self-styled  cham- 
pions of  the  labor  interests,  called  forth  the  joy  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  party  of  the  *Zeitung  (I  452).  At  the  same  time 
the  letter  of  the  prince  is  published  in  foreign  papers  and  shows 
the  man  on  whom  the  Liberals  secretly  have  founded  their  hopes 
to  be  a  genuine  reactionary,  a  despotic  character  (I  452).  The 
publication  creates  the  greatest  stir  and  consternation,  and  only 
the  young  king  is  happy  over  the  general  confusion  from  which 
he  is  in  hopes  to  come  forth  as  the  savior  of  his  people.  Tt  con- 
tributes to  make  him  curious  to  meet  Leo. 

Leo  founds  a  new  workingmen's  union  of  his  own,  in  which  he 
teaches  his  partisans  the  need  of  using  the  State  in  their  behalf 
(I  454),  The  strike  in  Tuchheim  has  been  brought  about  by  now 
factory  regulations  of  a  rigorous  character.  In  consequence  of 
the  establishment  of  mills,  the  poverty  which  formerly  was  pre- 
valent there  and  in  the  neighboring  villages  has  taken  another 
still  more  disheartening  form  instead  of  decreasing.  The  mills 
are  prosperous,  but  the  capitalists,  the  extortioners,  lower  the 
wages  (I  461-62).  Leo  stirs  the  fire  to  harm  also  in  the  eyes  of 
the  rest  of  the  nation,  the  Liberal  parties  among  whom  the  capi- 
talists occupy  prominent  positions  (I  483).  The  Left  decide  to 
make  a  motion  in  the  House  in  the  interest  of  labor  in  order  to 
regain  the  ground  they  have  lost  (I  500).  In  view  of  this  pos- 
sible help,  and  because  of  the  writings  of  Leo,  and  his  interces- 
sion with  the  Baron  von  Tuchheim  in  urging  him  to  declare  pub- 
licly that  the  regulations  have  been  made  by  the  capitalists  — 
the  principal  among  them  is  the  banker  Sonnenstein=Leonor 
Reichenheim  V  —  against  his  will,  the  workmen  in  Tuchheim  be- 
lieve that  there  are  still  people  left  with  hearts  good  to  the  poor. 
As  a  result  of  the  last  general  workingmen's  meeting-  they  send 
a  deputation  to  the  capital  to  win  some  more  influential  men,  es- 
pecially among  the  members  of  the  House,  since  without  help 
they  must  either  submit  or  use  violence,  as  their  resources  are 
exhausted.  If  they  should  learn  that  there  could  be  no  help  at 
that  moment  they  are  resolved  to  be  satisfied,  provided  that  they 
are  promised  that  their  cause  will  be  espoused  earnestly,  vigor- 
ously and  with  all  means  possible  (I  506).    The  deputation,  how- 


1  Cp.  above  p.  90  ;  below  p.  105. 

2  Cp.  below  p.  104. 


103 


ever,  have  seen  that  they  need  an  intelligent,  well-meaning  man 
to  help  them  with  counsel  and  deed  in  the  large  city  and  to  be- 
come, as  it  were,  their  attorney.  They  think  at  once  of  Leo,  who 
])y  his  writings  has  shown  them  how  close  to  his  heart  is  the  cause 
of  the  laboring  class,  and,  having  grown  up  among  them,  is  truly 
their  foreman  (I  506). 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  deputation  from  the  Silesian 
weaving  district,  who  had  an  audience  with  King  William  I  in 
May,  1864\  In  Wiiste-Giersdorf  in  Silesia  was  a  cotton  mill 
^vhich  had  been  the  property  of  the  State  till  1848.  It  was  then 
sold  cheaply  to  the  Progressionist  deputy  Leonor  Reichenheim 
by  the  Liberal  Minister,  Hansemann,  who,  as  Lassalle  says  in  his 
Ronsdorf  speech  of  May  23,  1864,  of  course,  found  it  incompat- 
ible with  the  principles  of  Liberalism  that  the  State  should  be  a 
manufacturer.  The  workingmen  of  that  mill,  he  continues,  con- 
tend in  their  petition  that  they  were  always  in  comfortable  cir- 
cumstances and  humanely  treated  so  long  as  the  mill  was  State 
property,  but  that  since  1858  they  have  come  into  such  distress 
that  they  have  decided  to  send  a  petition  and  deputation  to  the 
king.-  As  the  deputation  of  Tuchheim  comes  in  the  spring  (of 
1858)^,  we  have  here  evidently  the  deputation  from  Reichenheim- 
Wiiste-Giersdorf .  But  Spielhagen  has  combined  with  it  a  depu- 
ration which  came  to  Lassalle  and  helped  him  to  make  history. 

The  Silesian  deputation  knew  nothing  of  his  Arbeiterverein 
and  his  writings  when  they  turned  to  the  king.  But,  as  he  him- 
self says  in  his  Ronsdorf  speech,  before  they  were  admitted  to  an 
audience,  they  addressed  Lassalle  also  with  the  confession :  ' '  Only 
the  State  can  help  us  —  in  the  hands  of  the  manufacturers  we 
are  lost."  Their  petition  to,  and  audience  with,  the  king  stood  in 
no  connection  with  Lassalle 's  agitation.  But  his  Arbeiterpro- 
gramm,  with  its  magnificent  defense  of  the  all-embracing  task 
and  duty  of  the  modern  State,  his  trials  and  speeches  in  his  de- 
fense had  drawn  the  eyes  of  other  workmen  on  him.  What  Las- 
salle proclaimed  was  something  different  from  the  eternal  song 
of  the  Progressionists,  who  apparently  saw  no  misery  among  the 
labor  classes.  A  German  workingmen 's  congress  was  being  plan- 
ned after  the  London  Exhibition  of  1862,  but  the  project  found 

1  Cp.  above  p.  90. 

2  Oncken.  1.  c.  p.  407. 

3  Cp.  in  regard  to  chronology  I  478  ;  506. 


m 


104 

no  encouragement  with  the  Progressionists  of  Berlin,  where  at  a 
meeting  in  November,  representatives  also  of  the  Leipzig  labor 
interests  appeared.  Indeed,  the  Liberals  were  opposed  to  a  poli- 
tical emancipation  of  the  workmen  and  treated  accordingly  the 
representatives  of  the  Leipzig  labor  classes  when  they  again  came 
to  Berlin  in  Jainiary.  1863.  What  the  political  leaders  of  the 
Liberal  parties  failed  to  do  Lassalle  did.  In  his  speech  of  Jan. 
16,  1863,  "Die  Wissenschaft  mid  die  Arbeiter,"  he  had  again  un- 
furled his  flag.  At  the  end  of  this  month  a  friend  led  to  him  the 
Leipzig  representatives,  who  had  applauded  his  Arbeiterpro- 
gramm,  and  the  result  was  that  on  Feb.  11,  1863,  the  Central 
Committee  of  the  Leipzig  (Progressionist)  Bildungsverein  asked 
him  to  express  his  opinion  "iiber  die  Arbeiterbewegung  und  iiber 
die  Mittol,  deren  sie  sich  zu  bedienen  habe,  um  die  Verbesserung 
des  Arbeiterstandes  in  politischer,  materieller  und  geistiger  Be- 
ziehung  zu  erreichen,  sowie  besonders  iiber  den  Wert  der  Asso- 
ziationen  fiir  die  gauze  unbemittelte  Volksklasse."  Lassalle  is- 
sued March  1,  1863,  his  ''Offenes  Antwortschreiben  an  das  Zen- 
tralkomitee  zur  Berufung  eines  allgemeinen  deutschen  Arbeiter- 
kongresses  zu  Leipzig"  (Ziirich  1863),  and  gave  thus  the  im- 
pulse to  the  founding  of  the  Allgemeine  deutsche  Arbeiterverein 
May  23,  1863.  Over  against  the  free  individual  associations 
which  tlie  bourgeois,  tlie  Progressionists,  believed  to  be  the  best 
means  for  solving  the  social  problems  of  the  working  classes,  Las- 
salle points  out  that  State-help  is  ''das  einzige  Mittel,  um  die 
materielle  Lage  des  Arbeiterstandes  zu  verbesseren."  It  would 
seem  that  the  novelist  intentionally  speaks  of  a  general  working- 
men's  meeting  in  Tuchheim  (I  506)^  in  analogy  with  this  gen- 
eral German  workingmen's  congress  to  which  Lassalle  proposed 
his  means  for  the  improvement  of  the  labor  classes,  as  Leo  does 
to  the  Tuchheim  deputation. 

The  dream  of  his  childhood  and  of  his  years  of  exile  that  he 
might  some  day  be  asked  to  become  the  tribune  of  his  people  in 
their  fight  against  their  oppressors  has  become  true.  He  sees  by 
the  request  of  his  old  friends  that  he  has  not  worked  in  vain 
( I  507 ) .  Lassalle,  in  a  letter  of  September,  1860,  states  that  he 
has  devoted,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,-  his  whole  existence  to  a  sacred 


1  Cp.  above  p.  102. 

2  Oneken,  1.  c.  p.  190 ;  cp.  above  p.  26. 


.105 

cause,  tlie  cause  of  the  people,  in  its  furthest  consequences,  affirm- 
ing what  he  had  written  July  19,  1841,  in  his  diary.  Two  years 
later  he  could  write  that,  having  formed  a  new  partj--  in  Ger- 
many which  had  a  political  importance  and  represented  a  foree,^ 
he  had  not  worked  in  vain  since  political  interest  had  awaked 
rgain  in  the  hearts  and  the  life  of  the  people^.  So  Leo  is  con- 
scious that  he  has  not  become  faithless  to  the  oath  of  his  youth. 
Therefore,  he  must  tell  the  deputation  that  their  welfare  lies  only 
with  the  monarchy.  He  tries  to  convince  them  that  the  bour- 
geois, the  party  of  almighty  capital  and  wicked,  unrestrained  ex- 
tortion of  the  working  classes  is  that  part  of  the  House  in  which 
they  put  all  tlieir  hopes.  It  is  not  the  powerless  nobility  nor  the 
crumbling  church  which  resist  their  demands  for  an  existence 
worthy  of  man.  Their  tormentor  and  extortioner,  the  owner  of 
the  mills  in  Tuchheim,  the  banker  Sonnenstein,  is  a  very  influen- 
tial member  of  the  Liberal  party  (I  508).  Leo  singles  out  Son- 
nenstein just  as  Lassalle  had  directed  his  attacks  at  Leonor  Reich- 
enheim,  who  used  to  speak  eloquently  in  the  House  as  the  Repre- 
sentative of  the  people,  but  behaved,  like  other  manufacturers, 
vern'  unsoeiallj"  in  his  mills  at  Wiiste-Giersdorf  and  dismissed 
those  of  his  workmen  who  had  had  the  audience  with  the  king  in 
Ma.v,  1864.  The  name  Reichenheim  would  seem  to  be  Jewish,  and 
Baron  von  Sonnenstein  is  of  Jewish  descent.  Both  having  a  cor- 
responding position  in  history  and  in  the  novel,  Leonor  Reichen- 
heim may  be  stated  to  have  been  the  model  for  the  drawing  of 
the  banker  Sonnenstein.  Perhaps  we  may  go  a  step  further  and 
say  that  a  part  of  his  first  name  has  furnished  Spielhagen  with 
the  name  for  his  hero  in  IRuG,  the  more  so,  as  "Leo"  also  re- 
minds us  of  Lassalle,  as  we  pointed  out  above'',  and  the  whole 
then  may  be  a  symbol  expressing  Lassalle  fighting  against  capi- 
talism as  represented  in  Leonor  Reichenheim.  However  this  may 
be,  Leo  tells  the  deputation  that  there  are  only  two  ways  open  to 
them :  a  revolution  from  below  which,  because  of  being  hopeless, 
would  only  put  them  under  a  heavier  yoke,  or,  as  neither 
the  House  nor  the  bourgeois  party  can  or  will  help  the  working 
class,  the  revolution  from  above,  which  springs  from  the  power 
destined  to  serve  the  people.*    The  king  is  the  only  one  who  by 

J  Oncken,   1.  c.  p.  234. 

2  Ansprache  an  die  Arbeiter  Berlins  of  Oct.,  1863  ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  388. 

'■'  Cp.  above  p.  13. 

*  Cp.  above  p.  84 ;  100. 


106 


breaking  the  fetters  of  capital  can  help  the  laboring  class.  The 
monarchy  has  broken  the  yoke  of  feudalism;  it  must  and  can 
break  that  of  capitalism  before  it  disappears  from  among  the  po- 
litical formations  and  means  of  educating  mankind/  A  republi- 
can tendency  is  spreading  in  Europe,  but  as  natural,  so  political 
formations  develop  according  to  strict  laws  and  only  gradually — 
Lassalle's  evolution.^  (I  510).  If  monarchy  does  not  want  to 
help  the  workingman,  he  can  have  the  recourse  to  revolution  at 
any  time.  Leo  forsees  that  the  House  is  going  to  do  nothing  for 
the  labor  interests  at  the  approaching  meeting.  If  he  mistakes 
not,  the  deputation  may  return  to  counsel  further  with  him. 

Some  time  ago  he  had  seen  himself  in  his  dreams  as  the  ruler 
of  the  ruler  (I  431).  The  advice  he  has  given  the  deputation  has 
spontaneously  led  him  to  a  clearer  understanding  of  his  own  fu- 
ture conduct  (I  511).  He  has  decided  to  attempt  to  rescue  the 
modern  "poor  Konz"  with  the  help  of  the  monarchical  State. 
As  Lassalle,  by  founding  the  Allgemeine  deutsche  Arbeiter- 
verein,  shows  himself  a  realistic  politician  who  rightly  judges 
the  active  forces  of  the  State,  and  comes  to  terms  with  them  by 
taking  them  into  his  service,  so  Leo  henceforth  engages  in  purely 
practical  politics.  He  works  to  become  in  the  shortest  possible 
time  a  power  within  the  State  as  it  is,  for  only  with  power  can 
the  individual  do  much  for  the  ailments  of  the  State  (I  296)  ; 
he  struggles  to  compel  the  State  to  interest  itself  in  the  working 
people  and  with  all  the  means  at  his  disposal,  to  imbue  the  rul- 
ing powers  with  the  idea  of  the  labor  question.^ 

But  this  task  is  harder  than  he  has  imagined.  He  had  begun, 
with  fire  in  his  soul,  his  political  activity  after  having  ex- 
perienced the  dissatisfaction  of  Lassalle  in  1861*  of  being  con- 
demned to  inactivity,  and  now,  after  having  formed  his  own 
party,  he  meets  with  no  success.  He  has  the  same  experience  as 
Lassalle,  who  finds  it  the  greatest  difficulty  in  Progressionist 
Berlin,  to  be  heard  by  the  workmen,  and  labors  here  in  vain.^ 
Lassalle's  Berlin  club  had,  in  Dec.  1863,  200  members,  the  fol- 
lowing  February   only   35,    and   is   soon    dissolved   like   Leo's 


1  Cp.   Degenfeldt-Fichte-Lassalle's  demands   for  education  by  a  despot  for  lib- 
erty, above  p.  66. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  84  ;   86. 

3  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  61-63. 
*  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  191. 

5  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  391. 


107 

(I  545;  II  345),  and  the  progress  of  the  Arbeiterverein  was  a 
continual  disappointment  to  its  founder.  In  his  belief  in  the 
compelling  force  of  the  idea,  he  knew  the  labor  question  not  so 
much  from  practice  as  from  books,  and  did  not  know  nor  live 
with  the  workmen.^  He  remained  always  the  grand  seignior. 
He  finds  the  apathy  of  the  masses  enough  to  drive  him  to  de- 
spair, forgetting  that  outside  of  his  writings  he  had  done  little 
for  his  agitation.  Thus  his  calls  for  recruits,  sent  out  into  the 
world  at  the  expense  of  almost  superhuman  force,  were  lost  or 
met  with  very  little  success.  His  disappointment  appears  very 
clearly  reflected  in  Leo 's. 

The  vote  of  the  House  on  the  labor  motion  having  been  adverse, 
Leo,  to  redeem  the  word  with  which  he  has  pledged  himself  and 
his  future  to  the  deputation  from  Tuchheim,  does  his  best  that 
they  might  have  an  audience  with  the  king.  But  he  fails;  his 
indifferent  friends  do  nothing  for  him,  and  his  enemies  make 
the  audience  impossible  (I  517-18;  540).  The  Liberal  papers 
condemn  his  role  of  protector  in  the  matter  of  the  labor  deputa- 
tion (I  539),  as  Lassalle's  action  of  sending  his  Offenes  Antwort- 
schreiben  was  termed  unheard  of  by  the  papers  of  the  Progres- 
sionists, and  likewise  the  private  character  of  Leo  is  placed  un- 
der suspicion  (I  539).  By  some  he  is  directly  called  an  instru- 
ment of  reaction  (I  543 ;  cp.  II  565),  as  Lassalle  was  said  to  stand 
secretly  in  its  service,  in  order  to  arouse  the  suspicion  of  the 
working  people  against  him.  Leo  has  also  the  same  cause  for 
complaint,  which  Lassalle  voices  a  short  time  after  the  found- 
ing of  his  workmen's  union,  when  he  says  everything  would  be 
better  if  the  working  people  had  done  their  duty,  but  his  ene- 
mies had  been  more  active  than  his  friends.^ 

Leo  is  convinced  now  that  the  load,  he  intended  to  move,  re- 

>  & 

mams  unmoved.  The  immense  Avork  he  has  done,  during  the 
past  weeks,  has  been  to  no  purpose.  He  will  attend  yet  a  meet- 
ing of  his  union  which  he  has  called,  voice  once  more  his  convic- 
tion that  the  poor,  ignorant  people  cannot  attain  welfare  and 
education  through  their  own  strength  and  effort,  and  then  leave 
town.  But  he  does  not  think  of  giving  up  politics  altogether. 
He  is  for  the  moment  discouraged  at  not  having  the  power  for 


1  Cp.  Leo  I  350 ;  Preigeboren,  p.  298. 

2  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  162. 


108 

an  effective  public  activitj'^,  like  Lassalle,  who  writes  to  the  Coun- 
tess Hatzfeldt,  July  28,  1864 ;  "  .  .  .  Ich  wiinsche  nichts  sehn- 
licher  als  die  ganzc  Politik  los  zu  werden  .  .  .  Ich  bin  der  Politik 
miide  und  satt  .  .  .  Zwar,  ich  wiirde  so  leidenschaftlich  wie  je 
fur  sie  entflamraen  .  .  .  wenn  ich  die  Macht  hatte  oder  ein 
Mittel  sahe  sie  zu  erobern  -  ein  sololies,  das  sich  fiir  mich  schickt.^ 
denn  ohne  hochste  Macht  lasst  sich  nichts  machen?"  Leo's 
plans  having  miscarried  in  the  capital,  he  feels  he  must  use  more 
forceful  means  now  from  another  center  (cp.  II  160-61).  He 
has  attempted  to  make  peace  with  his  opponents,  but  now  war 
shall  rage  henceforth  between  him  and  the  Liberals,  the  falsi- 
fiers of  truth  ( I  543 ) .  So  he  speaks  at  the  meeting  of  his  union, 
in  a  Lassallean  manner,  of  the  right  without  truth  which  rules, 
and  uses  likewise  the  means  which  Lassalle  considers  as  simple, 
as  unfailing,  the  teaching  of  that  which  is  (I  548).-  His  enemies 
create  a  disturbance,  Leo  is  arrested. 

Through  the  intercession  with  the  king  by  some  relatives,  he 
is  freed  after  three  days — Lassalle,  after  a  meeting  of  Nov.  2, 
1863,  had  been  broken  up,  was  arrested  when  he  delivered 
another  speech  Nov.  22,  1863,  and  was  freed  on  bail  after  three 
days.^  Leo  is  then  granted  a  meeting  with  the  ruler*  M'ho  wants 
to  see  the  man  who  has  aroused  his  interest  by  the  publication  of 
the  letter  of  the  prince  and  has  caused  him  delight  at  the  discom- 
fort of  his  hated  cousin  (II  73).  Leo  makes  a  deep  impression  on 
him  by  proposing  a  Volkskonigtum,  a  kinghood  based  on  the  peo- 
ple, as  the  best  means  for  the  solution  of  the  existing  social  prob- 
lems (II  136-37).  The  Radicals  (Marx  and  friends?)  have  been 
so  much  agitated  over  the  labor  question  and  yet  make  as  little 
progress  as  the  Liberals,  who  likewise  draw  their  strength  only 
from  this  ground.  Both  parties  are  the  parasites  with  which  the 
State  suffers.  The  physician,  Leo,  can  remove  them,  that  it  may 
gain  an  unhoped  for  strength.  For  ever  since  he  has  been  able  to 
think,  he  has  pondered  over  the  solution  of  this  task,  and  is  sure 
he  has  considered  all  its   important  points.     The  king  must, 


1  Cp.  above  p.  12. 

2  "Was  nun?'"  Zurich  1863.  Cp.  below  p.  128  ;  139. 
."  Cp.  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  391. 

4  Social  democratic  historians  think  that  influential  friends,  perhaps  the 
Countess  Hatzfeldt,  brought  about  the  meeting  between  Lassalle  and  Bis- 
marck. The  latter,  however,  has  denied  this,  cf.  Oncken  1.  c.  p.  322.  It 
would  seem  as  if  Spielhagen  in  creating  these  relatives  who  intercede  for 
Leo  has  thought  of  similar  attempts  to  explain  Lassalle's  entering  into 
intercourse  with  Bismarck.     But  cp.  below  p.l41  S. 


109 


under  Leo 's  guidance,  take  the  labor  problem  into  his  own  hands 
(II  139). 

Leo  finds  employment  in  the  private  office  of  the  ruler,  and  is 
enabled,  by  his  purse,  to  buy  the  Tuchheim  mills,  and  to  try  on 
them  his  socialistic  doctrines  (II  251).  Soon  after,  he  writes  an 
expert  opinion  on  the  possibilitj^  and  usefulness  of  establishing, 
with  the  help  of  the  State,  similar  institutions  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  (II  320).  So,  also  Lassalle  endeavored  to  prove,  in  his 
Frankfurt  speech  of  May  17,  1863,  the  possibility  of  his 
Produktivgenossenschaften  or  co-operative  societies,  the  finan- 
cing of  which,  to  his  mind,  could  be  done  with  100  million 
thalers,  a  sum  which  the  Prussian  State  might  easily  raise  for 
such  a  highly  important  purpose.^  Leo's  next  move  is  to  win  the 
public  over  to  his  new  doctrines  (II  320),  as  the  General  German 
Workingmen 's  Union  was  to  win  public  sentiment  for  its  aim  of 
establishing  common,  equal,  and  direct  suffrage  in  a  legal  and 
peaceful  way,-  that  the  next  House — he  is  said  to  have  dictated 
the  message  with  which  the  last  House  was  closed  (II  220)  — 
might  grant  the  means  needed  for  opening  similar  institutions  in 
all  parts  of  the  country. 

The  king  overwhelms  him  with  evidences  of  his  favor.  But 
Leo's  position  is  considered  very  unsafe  bj^  his  friends,  or  by 
those  who  hope  to  gain  something  by  his  present  influence  over 
the  ruler,  because  he  has  made  many  enemies,  and  the  king  can- 
not be  trusted  on  account  of  his  inconstancy.  The  king  is  not  the 
rock  on  which  Leo  can  build  his  church  (II  378).  This  reminds 
us  of  the  words  Lassalle  addressed  to  the  workmen  in  his  Ar- 
beiterprogramm :  "Sie  sind  der  Fels,  auf  welchem  die  Kirche 
der  GegenM'art  gebaut  werden  soll."^  Leo  desires  no  position  in 
the  new  Cabinet  which  is  forming,  because  he  does  not  wish  to 
be  lost  among  the  crowd.  His  ambition  is  not  to  enrich  the 
State  by  an  official  (II  283).  But  in  order  to  be  able  to  com- 
mand —  for  the  masses  cannot  govern  themselves ;  they  must  be 
governed,  but  it  would  be  hard  for  one  individual  to  do  this 
(II  284)  — he  is  advised  to  make  sure  of  support  from  what- 
ever source  he  can,  above  all,  to  march  first  in  rank  and  file  with 
the  army  of  officials   (II  283),  to  build  up  family  connections 


1  Arbeiterlesebuch,  Frankfurt,  1863 ;  Oncken,  1.  e.  p.  315. 
-  Die  indirekte  Steuer,  etc.     Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  368. 
3  Cp.  below  p.  133. 


■^r^m 


110 

(II  287),  and  to  accept  the  patent  of  nobility  the  king  offers 
him  (II  330).  He  is  also  asked,  out  of  deference  to  the  romantic 
make-up  of  the  king,  to  join  the  church  (II  332).  He  perceives 
the  wisdom  of  these  advices;  he  looks  for  a  wife  who  can  cloak 
his  low  descent  with  her  old  nobility  (II  ^19).  He  becomes  vice- 
president  of  a  church  association  composed  of  people  of  the 
highest  classes,  after  he  has  defended  the  cause  of  nobility  and 
church  (II  356)  ;  he  makes  up  his  mind  to  accept  the  knight- 
hood (II  346). 

But  all  this  is  of  no  avail.  Because  of  his  position  to  the  ques- 
tion of  how  the  kingdom  should  act  in  the  war  which  has  broken 
out  between  a  friendly  power  (Austria)  and  two  Southern  States 
(Italy  and  France),  Leo  incurs  a  still  greater  enmit}'  from  the 
princely  party.  They  are  ready  to  join  the  friendly  power  be- 
cause they  see  that  the  moment  has  arrived  to  procure  the  king- 
dom: that  influential  position  which  is  its  due,  and  to  place  after 
a  doubtlessly  successful  war,  the  prince  on  the  throne,  and  make 
him  the  protector  of  the  German  empire  (II  417).  Leo,  on  the 
other  hand,  tries  to  dissuade  the  king  from  giving  up  neutrality, 
and  writes  an  expert  opinion  for  him  on  the  political  situation 
(II  465)  — Lassalle's  pamphlet  "Der  italieuische  Krieg  und  die 
Aufgabe  Preussens,  etc."  The  party  of  the  prince  does  its  best 
to  counteract  his  influence.  That  they  may  have  their  way, 
Leo  must  fall.  The  complainants  are  too  much  for  the  king.  He 
calls  his  favorite,  bidding  him  to  quiet  those  who  are  dissatisfied 
with  the  king's  attitude  at  the  defeat  of  the  friendly  power,  the 
news  of  which  has  just  arrived  (II  442).  Leo  endeavors  to  con- 
vince the  king  that  the  only  way  to  free  himself  of  all  troubles  is : 
Abolition  of  slavery,  i.  e.  annihilation  of  the  proletariat  in  the 
free  State  of  the  future  which,  by  connnand  of  the  ruler,  will  at 
once  be  made  the  present  (II  487).  Such  a  command  would  not 
bring  about  a  rising  of  all  Europe  against  the  king  as  the  latter 
fears.  For  the  interests  of  the  nations  are  in  solidarity.  Luther 
broke  with  the  hammer  with  which  he  nailed  his  theses  to  the 
door  of  the  court  church  at  Wittenberg,  the  doors  of  all  protest- 
ant  churches  on  the  globe.  Let  the  king  speak  the  word  for 
which  mankind  has  been  waiting  —  and  he  has  freed  not  only 
Germany  but  the  whole  world.  Such  confidence  was  Lassalle's, 
when  he  published  his  Offenes  Antwortschreiben,  as  he  confesses 


Ill 


in  a  letter  of  March  8,  1863,  He  had  hoped  that  it  would  have 
an  effect  like  those  95  theses  which  Luther  once  fastened  to  the 
court  church  in  Wittenberg.^  Leo  declares  himself  ready  and 
able  to  form  a  new  Cabinet.  The  king  asks  three  days  time  .for 
reflection,  but  no  sooner  has  Leo  left  him  than  he  makes  peace 
with  the  war  party  and  drops  his  former  favorite.  The  socialis- 
tic experiments  of  the  latter  have  failed ;  violent  acts  and  murder 
take  place  in  the  mills.  Leo,  like  Lassalle,  falls  in  a  duel,  which 
is  more  of  a  private  than  a  political  nature. 


While  thus  the  political  activity  of  Leo  appears  at  every  de- 
cisive step  to  be  built  upon,  and  also  in  the  general  chronological 
order  to  agree  with,  the  history  of  Lassalle 's  life,  there  are  a 
number  of  correspondences  to  be  found  under  the  epic  dress 
with  which  the  novelist  has  clothed  them,  especially  in  the  ac- 
tivity of  Leo  after  his  meeting  the  king.  Some  of  them  serve  the 
purpose  of  characterization  rather  than  narration.  While  all  of 
them,  because  of  their  disconnection,  might  find  the  most  fitting 
place  for  their  explanation  in  a  commentary,  we  will  consider 
them  here,  by  grouping  them  under  the  heads  of  Leo's  position 
towards  the  Liberal  parties,  his  quest  of  means  for  improving  the 
economic  conditions  of  the  working  classes,  and  lastly,  his  con- 
nection with  monarchy  and  church. 

Leo  turns  away  from  the  radical  revolutionary  propaganda 
and,  as  champion  of  the  proletariat,  takes  his  position  beside  the 
Liberal  parties.  He  aims  to  imbue  them  with  a  new  spirit  and 
then  to  bring  about  a  coalition  with  the  labor  classes  (I  323).  It 
is  thus  the  Arbeiterangelegenheit,  the  labor  question,  to  which 
Leo's  political  activity  is  above  all  devoted.  His  relation  to  the 
Liberals  depends  on  their  attitude  toward  this  pressing  ques- 
tion. As  the  example  of  Lassalle  has  served  for  the  description 
of  Leo's  political  activity,  so  his  Progressionist  adversaries  have 
stood  model  for  the  drawing  of  the  Liberals  in  IRuG,  in  a  quali- 
fied sense,  however.  For  although  Spielhagen  places  the  events  of 
his  story  only  about  five  years  earlier  than  Lassalle 's  epoch- 
making  activity,  and  although  the  thoughts  for  which  the  Liber- 

3  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  49  ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  277. 


112 

als  of  the  sixties  fought,  had,  in  part,  been  active  for  centuries, 
we  hear  nothing  of  the  Prussian  Constitutional  Conflict  over  the 
army  bill  introduced  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1860,  a 
conflict  which  was  to  create  the  Progressionist  party,  Lassalle's 
chief  political  opponents.  While  the  bill  was  favored  by  the 
Liberals  as  an  increase  of  Prussian  power  for  international 
emergencies,  it  meant  at  the  same  time,  because  of  some  of  its 
features,  an  immense  strengthening  of  the  power  of  the  crown. 
It  represented  also  tendencies  in  contrast  with  those  which  were 
developing  in  the  House  and  among  the  people  —  a  situation  re- 
flected, perhaps,  in  IRuG,  in  the  opposition  of  the  Liberals 
to  the  conservative-reactionary  tendencies  of  the  princely 
part.y.  To  escape  from  tliis  dilemma  the  Liberals  sought 
to  weaken  the  reactionary  sides  of  the  bill,  and  when  they 
dfd  not  succeed  a  group  of  them  formed  the  Progressionist 
party,  distinguishing  themselves  henceforth  from  the  Old- 
Liberals,  not  by  principle,  but  by  their  tactics  and  fixity  of 
purpose/  This  difference  Spielhagen  seems  to  have  transferred, 
in  a  different  sense,  however,  to  Leo  and  his  Liberal  opponents, 
who  also  differ  from  one  another  only  in  the  choice  of  their 
means,  as  we  have  seen.  While  the  Old-Liberals  tried  to  lead 
the  crown  back  into  the  moderate  ways  of  the  New  Era,  the  Pro- 
gressionists set  their  minds  on  subjecting  the  crown  to  the 
House.  That  is,  they  sought  to  procure  for  Liberalism  and  the 
middle  class  the  leading  position  in  a  fight  to  the  finish  against 
the  ruling  class,  thus  aiming  to  take  hold  again  of  the  helm  lost 
in  the  fall  of  1848,  while  placing  the  national  interests  in  a 
secondary  position.  But  the  king,  who,  as  prince,  like  the  middle 
class,  had  been  opposed  to  the  reaction  of  the  fifties,  and  in  Oct. 
1858,  had  lent  a  hand  to  a  constitutional  regime,  could 
not  continue  surrendering  one  piece  after  the  other  of  the 
power  entailed  upon  him,  he  could  not  agree  to  the  re- 
moval of  the  strong  props  of  the  State  organized  in  the  army  of 
military  and  officials  for  all  the  love  of  freemen  with  their  im- 
perious claims  in  a  share  of  government.  The  army  bill  only 
exposed  an  opposition  of  long  standing ;  at  the  bottom  of  the 
Conflict  lay  the  political  contest  for  power  between  crown  and 


1  Cp.  above  p.  51-53. 


113  ., 

parliament.^  This  Conflict  of  extraordinary  historical  import- 
ance which  outlived  Lassalle  gave  him  the  occasion  to  throw  the 
workmen,  a  decisive  factor,  as  he  believed,  into  the  balance,  and 
what  interests  us  here  especially,  gave  the  Progressionists  their 
peculiar  character  as  contrasted  with  Liberalism  in  general. 
Furthermore,  when  Lassalle  returned  to  Berlin,  he  found  the 
people  very  little  "entmonarchisiert",  as  he  writes,  and  without 
class  spirit,  following  the  leadership  of  the  middle  class  demo- 
cracy; represented  in  the  "  Volkszeitung.  "^  There  was  hardly 
any  labor  question  when  he  entered  the  political  arena  in  April, 
1862.  When  his  historical  importance  has  rightfully  found  its 
reflection  in  Leo's  raising  this  labor  question,  the  novelist,  both 
in  DvH  and  in  IRuG,  contrary  to  history,  proceeds  to  apply  the 
economic  problems  of  the  workingmen  to  the  whole  country 
in  the  manner  of  Marx  and  his  friends.  Spielhagen's 
characterization  of  the  Liberals,  therefore,  hardly  presents 
a  complete  picture  of  the  adversaries  of  Lassalle  and  —  Bis- 
marck, nor  were  the  ruling  powers  against  which  the  so- 
cialistic Democrat  started  his  war,  as  soon  as  he  could  again  be 
active  politically,  the  reactionary  whom  Leo  finds  upon  his  re- 
turn to  the  capital.  Reaction  as  actually  opposed  to  the  Pro- 
gressionists is  overdrawn  in  IRuG  by  party-political  prejudice,^ 
in  that  it  does  not  appear  as  the  expression  of  a  Government 
which  was  working  to  solve  the  German  question. 

At  the  head  of  the  State,  when  Leo  enters  the  political  arena^ 
stands  a  young,  highly  talented  king,  susceptible  to  new  ideas 
(II  164;  262),  endowed  with  an  incredibly  vivid  imagination 
and  of  a  vanity,  which  promises  to  make  him  the  tool  of  any  one 
who  knows  how  to  persuade  him  to  be  a  reformer  (I  77).  A 
romanticist  who  would  favor  the  reintroduction  of  the  worship 
of  the  saints  (II  374),  an  enthusiast  in  art  (II  89),  religious,  and 
yet  not  free  from  moral  failings  (II  31 ;  536),  inconstant,  capric- 
ious, full  of  contradictions  (II  89;  81;  97),  animated  by  the 
vain  desire  to  be  the  doer  of  his  deeds  (I  77),  the  spoil  of  the 
combat  between  the  spiritualist  and  the  materialist  in  him 
(II  81),  he  is  the  representative  of  the  kingdom  "by  the  grace 
of  God. ' '    Instead  of  bringing  the  revolution  to  a  peaceful  com- 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  195  ff. 

2  Oncken.  1.  c.  p.  154-55  ;  104. 
8  Henning,  1.  c.  p.  198. . 


114 

pletion,  he  has  called  reaction  back  into  his  country  (I  270),  be- 
cause of  the  solidarity  of  dynastic  interests  (I  519).  The  arbi- 
trariness of  the  police,  the  rule  of  bureaucratic  satraps  (I  257;- 
253)  deprive  life  and  freedom  of  the  necessary  air  (I  248-49). 
The  home  is  no  longer  the  citizen's  castle  (II  205;  402).  The 
right  of  assembling  is  abolished  (II  402)  and  the  press  laws  are 
applied  against  tendencies  deemed  dangerous  to  the  community 
or  as  revolting  against  divine  and  human  regime  (I  411;  434). 
The  king  himself  is  not  free  from  despotism,  and  sneers  at  the 
constitutional  State  (II  25),  with  the  state's  attorney  as  the  al- 
mighty man,  and  at  the  paragraphs  of  the  Constitution  which  re- 
strict the  liberty  of  royal  actions  (II  29).  He  mocks  at  his  re- 
sponsible ministers  who,  through  lack  of  intelligence,  will  end 
by  bringing  the  so-called  Constitution  into  such  ill  repute  (II  30) 
that  the  people  will  at  last  be  glad  to  be  ruled  by  the  king  him- 
self. 

Very  little  love  exists  between  the  ruler  and  his  ministry  on 
the  one  hand,  and  his  cousin  and  his  party  on  the  other  (II  73;- 
392).  The  prince  who,  to  all  appearances,  will  soon  ascend  the 
throne,  contends  against  the  party  of  the  responsible  Government 
for  the  deciding  influence  in  the  State.  The  organ  of  his  party 
is  the  reactionary  *Zeitung  (Kreuzzeitung)  (II  93).  He  will  not 
interest  himself  in  the  labor  question  but  leave  it  to  the  intelli- 
gent king,  for,  once  and  for  all,  he  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  rabble;  he  wants  no  government  by  the  riffraff.  He  regrets 
sufficiently  to  have  made  concessions  to  the  Liberals  (I  500). 

While  it  is  evident  that  the  young  king  who  dies  in  the  eighth 
year  of  his  reign  (II  603;  615)  has  been  given  many  traits  of 
Frederick  William  IV,  although  the  latter  at  the  return  to  the 
capital  of  Leo-Lassalle,  was  about  60  years  of  age,  it  is  difficult 
to  recognize  in  his  cousin  the  later  emperor  William  I.  It  is  true 
he  had  been  called  the  "Erzfeind  aller  Volksrechte",  and  had 
attracted  the  hatred  of  a  large  part  of  the  German  people  by 
suppressing,  at  the  head  of  an  army,  revolutionary  risings  in 
1848-49.  But  later,  in  taking  the  reins  of  government,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1859,  he  put  an  end  to  reaction,  and  inaugurated  a  Liberal 
era,  although  continuing  to  be  conservative  and  "altpreussiseh'*. 
The  prince  in  IRuG  is  reactionary,  and  Spielhagen  for  practical 


115 

reasons,  may  not  have  dared  to  call  him  the  archenemy  of  aXi 
rights  of  the  people,  but  depicts  him  only  as  being  in  correspond- 
ence with  the  "archenemy  of  all  European  liberty"  (I  368). 
Possibly,  the  fact  that  a  majority  of  the  Prussian  army,  and  even 
at  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  the  Prince-regent,  William,  himself, 
favored  a  war  with  France  in  1859,  and  the  strengthening  of  the 
army  in  the  sixties  find  reflection  in  the  eagerness  for  war  of  the 
princely  party,  their  excellent  organization  and  their  reckless  of- 
fensive attitude,  as  the  Progressionists  adversaries  interpreted  it 
(II  518).^  But  the  characterization  of  the  prince  himself  is  far 
from  an  accurate  picture  of  William  I;  moreover,  Spielhagen, 
in  modelling  the  prince  on  the  later  emperor  would  have  broken 
the  principle  of  not  introducing  contemporaneous  persons  into 
his  novels. 

For  this  same  reason  the  novelist,  although  he  felt  a  deep  an- 
tagonism against  what  appeared  to  him  reaction,  pure  and  sim- 
ple, and  even  despotism  in  the  new  Premier  of  William's  min- 
istry, Bismarck,  has  not  taken  the  latter  as  a  model  for  the 
Prime  Minister  in  IRuG.  Von  Hey  hates  Leo,  but  Bismarck  de- 
clares Lassalle  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  intellectual  and  ami- 
able men  he  knew,  ambitious  on  a  large  scale,  and  energetic  whom 
he  would  have  liked  to  have  had  for  a  neighbor.^  Leo,  on  the  other 
hand,  finds  in  von  Hey,  who  pursues  only  his  own  ends,  no  love 
of  mankind  nor  any  glimmer  of  that  which  was  and  will  be 
(I  521;  517-18).  But  Lassalle  had  a  ve^  different  opinion  of 
Bismarck.  I^  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  Iron  Chancellor, 
whose  deep  knowledge  of  constitutional  matters  he  praises  in 
''Was  nun?"'  and  for  whom  he  confesses  to  a  friend  to  have 
written  his  speech,  "Die  Feste,  die  Presse  und  der  deutsche 
Abgeordnetentag,  etc."  in  Sept.,  1863.*  March  12,  1864,  he 
exclaims  in  public:  "  .  .  .so  verkiinde  ich  Ihnen  hier  an 
diesem  feierlichen  Orte:  es  wird  vieUeicht  kein  Jahr  vergehen 
—  und  Herr  von  Bismarck  hat  die  RoUe  Robert  Peels  gespielt 
und  das  allgemeine  und  direkte  Wahlrecht  oktroyiert  ",^  and  in 
his  Solingen  speech  of  the  same  year,  he  says:  "Er  (Bismarck) 
ist  ein  Mann,  jene  (the  Progressionists)  sind  —  alte  Weiber."" 

1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  133. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  20 ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  342. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  237. 

4  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  339. 

5  Der   Hochverratsprozess   wider   F.    L.   vor   dem   Staatsgerichtshofe    zu    Berlin, 
etc.     Berlin  1864 ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  401. 

«  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  336. 


116 

Besides,  Spielhagen  well  knew  this  admiration  of  Lassalle  for 
Bismarck.  In  "  Freigeboren, "  the  great  Democrat  describes 
with  pleasure  the  terms  on  which  he  stands  with  Bismarck.  He 
sees  in  him  his  equal,  perhaps  at  that  time  his  only  equal  in  Grer- 
many  (291)  and  applauds  the  Premier's  army  reorganization 
with  "fine",  his  scheme  to  oust  Austria  with  "bravo"  and  his 
eventual  plan  to  establish  a  new  German  empire  with  "bravis- 
simo"  (293).  The  heroine  of  that  novel,  too,  defends  Bismarck. 
He  is  right,  she  says,  to  break  with  the  talkers  of  the  Progres- 
sionist party  that  his  plans  may  not  end  like  the  Frankfurt 
Parliament  (285).  As  she  is  the  spokesman  of  Spielhagen,  it 
may  be  said  in  this  connection  that  the  common  reproach  that  the 
novelist  never  respected  the  greatness  of  this  national  hero  is  ab- 
solutely unfounded.  Spielhagen  has  both,  in  poems  and  in  some 
novels,  given  expression  to  his  feelings  for  the  greatness  of  the 
Iron  Chancellor  and  enumerates  him  among  the  three  greatest 
Germans,  as  we  have  pointed  out.^  This  respect  for  the  great 
statesman,  no  doubt,  prevented  him  from  modelling  Hey  on  him. 
But  if  we  follow  the  method  used  in  his  earliest  works  as  a  key, 
we  are  led  to  the  equation  Hey=H  (inckeld)ey,  the  President 
of  police  of  whose  "white  terreur"  Lassalle  speaks.-  With  Hin- 
ckeldey  he  had  an  interview  in  Berlin  in  the  spring  of  1855,  in 
order  to  announce  to  him  that  he  was  going  to  memorialize  the 
Government  for  being  permitted  to  reside  again  permanently  in 
the  capital.  In  his  petition,  handed  in  thereafter,  May  31,  1855, 
Lassalle,  it  sounds  almost  ironical,  seeks  to  win  the  favor  of 
Hinckeldey  by  holding  out  to  him  the  prospect  of  a  share  in  the 
glory  of  his  scientific  work^  which  he  could  finish  only  in  Berlin. 
Leo,  by  stirring  his  ambition  and  the  promise  of  royal  thanks, 
tries  to  move  Hey  to  receive  the  Tuchheim  deputation  (I  517-18). 
Both  petitions  are  denied  with  a  few  plain  words  (I  540).  A 
further  proof  that  Hey  was  modelled  on  Hinckeldey  may  be 
found  in  the  duel  in  which  his  brother  kills  the  Baron  von  Tuch- 
heim (II  16),  while  Hinckeldy  was  one  of  the  participants  in  a 
famous  encounter.  He  was  shot  by  Hans  von  Rochow.^  This 
would  exactly  correspond  with  Spielhagen 's  novelistic  treatment 
of  actual  occurrences,  as  we  have  shown,  in  his  use  of  Lassalle 's 
duel.* 


1  Am  Wege,  p.  84 ;  Henning,  1.  c.  p.  215  t. ;  217.     Cp.  above  p.  10. 

2  Die  Feste,  etc.,  p.  3  ;  cp.  Brandes,  1.  c.  p    70. 

3  Cp.  Oncken,  1.  e.  i>.  90. 

4  Cp.  above  p.  15-16. 

»  Cp.  R.  M.  Meyer,  1.  c.  I  p.  337. 


117 

The  reactionary  ruling  powers,  represented  by  the  king  and  his 
government  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  the  prince  and  his  follow- 
ers on  the  other,  are  based  on  an  upper  stfi^um  of  society  which, 
in  their  morality  and  intellectuality  (I  3087^40;  347;  294;  276;- 
494,  etc.),  are  a  new  edition  of  the  upper  classes,  which  Spiel- 
hagen,  in  his  party-political  prejudice,^  painted  in  DvH.  While 
in  this  novel  the  representatives  of  the  church  are  on  the  whole 
irreproachable  morally,  those  in  IRuG  preach  of  Christian  love 
and  mercy,  but  live  not  by  their  words  (I  56-57 ;  60 ;  II 172,  etc.)  ■ 
They  use  religion  only  as  a  means  for  governing  the  rabble 
(I  115;  127,  etc.),  and  are  dishonest  in  money  matters,  and  im- 
moral in  their  relation  to  women  (II  525).  Notwithstanding, 
they  know  in  their  famOtis  sermons  how  to  report  much  of  the 
deputies  of  the  devil  (I  351).  This  leads  us  to  surmise  that  the 
novelist  has  modelled  Urhan,  the  Privy  Counselor  of  the  Con- 
sistorial  Court  (if  we  leave  aside  his  immoralities)  on  the  court 
preacher  Hoffmann,  who,  under  Frederick  William  IV,  contin- 
ued as  an  ally  of  reaction  the  work  which  the  followers  of  the 
famous  orthodox  theologian  Hengstenberg  had  begun  when,  in 
their  fear  to  lose  their  influence  with  king  and  State,  they  sought 
by  apocalyptic  pictures  to  exorcize  the  revolution  as  the  work  of 
the  devil.-  Indeed,  the  novelist  gives  an  historically  unimpeach- 
able picture  of  the  reaction  which  preceded  the  New  Era. 

But  he  shows  also  that  the  world  has  changed  and  the  people 
with  it  (I  246).  The  revolution  has  not  been  in  vain;  there  are 
certain  results  which  cannot  be  undone.  The  Liberals  gather 
their  forces  to  overcome  Reaction.  If  the  restriction,  above 
mentioned  (p.  111-113),  is  taken  into  account,  Spielhagen  has 
given  an  excellent  and  true  picture  of  Liberalism  as  it  was  when 
it  could  breathe  again  in  the  New  Era.  The  great  spiritual-politi- 
cal movement,  sprung  from  the  Renaissance,  and  nourished  by 
identical  elements  through  the  Reformation  and  the  Aufklarung 
as  well  as  through  revolutions  outside  of  Germany,  with  its  ethi- 
cal contents  and  its  ideal  of  an  individual  dependent  on,  and  re- 
sponsible only  to,  himself  who  lives  with  all  his  talents  for  his 
own  perfection  and  the  welfare  of  mankind — ^this  movement  after 
having  been  repelled  for  a  short  time  by  the  failure  of  the  revolu- 


1  Cp.  Henning,  1.  c.  p.  198. 

2  Zlegler,  1.  c.  p.  290. 


118 


tion  of  1848-49,  takes,  since  the  beginning  of  the  sixties,  the  shape 
of  a  great  current  gradually  increasing  in  extent  and  width.  The 
representatives  of  this  Liberalism  in  IRuG  oppose  to  dependence 
and  tutelage  everywhere  the  independence  and  liberty  of  the  in- 
dividual. To  realize  their  ideal  of  a  free  individual  they  strive 
for  the  removal  of  the  barriers  set  up  to  human  thinking  by  all 
Christian  dogmas  whatsoever,  and  attack  the  established  churches 
(I  305).  They  fight  the  viri  obseuri  (I  384)  because  these  re- 
proach them  with  having  argued  away  their  respect  for  God  and 
the  king  (II  527).  They  are  heretics,  some  of  whom  form  free 
congregations  (I  306).  They  revolt  against  the  pressure  exer- 
cised on  the  independence  of  the  individual  by  the  absolutistie 
or  bureaucratic  State.  They  deride  the  Government,  which  name 
the  brutal  police  rule  has  assumed  (I  304).  They  take  part  in 
building  the  house  in  which  freemen  shall  live  at  the  side  of 
freemen  (I  306),  and  fight  tyranny  in  any  form  and  under  aiiy 
circumstances,  whatsoever  (I  415;  II  218).  They  oppose  every 
social  distinction  established  by  historical,  legal  institutions, 
national  boundaries,  and  race.  As  the  Progressionists  had  many 
Jewish  members  among  them,'  so  the  chief  representative  of 
Liberalism  in  IRuG  is  a  Jew  by  birth,  but  stands  on  intimate 
terms  of  friendship  with  Liberal  people  of  the  old  nobility.  With 
them  the  dress  does  not  make  the  man  (II  394)  ;  they  find  that 
members  of  the  working  classes  are  not  more  uninstrueted  or  of 
meaner  understanding  than  hundreds  of  the  highest  society. 
Class  distinctions  dim  the  purest  springs  of  happiness,  the  Lib- 
erals contend,  and  therefore,  they  in  their  enlightment,  see  in 
work  the  true  patent  of  nobility  which,  in  contrast  with  that  ob- 
tained by  birth,  can  be  won  only  by  merit,  and  is  not  exclusive 
but  aspires  to  receive  the  whole  human  race  into  its  ranks 
(II  216).  And  lastly  they  are  opposed  to  every  obstacle  to  an 
unfettered,  economic  activity.  All  these  Liberal  ideas,  however, 
were  in  vogue  before  the  Progressionists  engaged  in  their  parlia- 
mentary contest.  Spielhagen  combines  with  them  in  anticipa- 
tion, if  we  leave  aside  his  own  ethical  idealism  and  the  exaggerat- 
ed position  which,  for  Leo's  sake,  he  has  given  to  the  represen- 
tative of  capitalism,  such  economic  principles  of  the  Progres- 
sionists as  were  to  arouse  the  antagonism  of  Lassalle.  Liberalism 


1  Ziegler,  1.  c.  p.  552. 


119 


met  the  economic  tendencies  of  the  middle  class  just  at  the  time 
this  class  was  rising  by  the  capitalistic  development.  It  was 
adapted  to  their  needs  when  they  thought  to  obtain  political  con- 
trol after  the  dawn  of  the  New  Era.  It  combined  with  the  eco- 
nomic theories  of  the  school  of  free  trade,  the  free  international 
exchange  of  goods  and  an  unhampered  activity  in  all  directions. 
It  combined  also  with  the  doctrines  of  the  neutral  position  of  the 
State  in  regard  to  this  harmonious  play  of  economic  forces,  or  of 
the  restriction  of  its  functions  to  the  protection  of  person  and 
property.  All  these  economic  ideals  are  shared  in,  and  cham- 
pioned by,  the  Liberals  in  IRuG  (I  349-50),  But  because  of  Spiel- 
hagen's  siding  with  the  Progressionists  we  learn  nothing  of  the 
weak  points  of  Liberalism,  its  depreciation  of  the  historical  im- 
portance of  the  functions  of  the  State  in  its  interior  life ;  its  con- 
niving at  the  social  questions  of  the  modern  proletariat  by  in- 
terpreting individual  liberty,  to  speak  with  Lassalle,  not  as  a 
right  for  the  individual  in  general,  but  as  a  right  of  the  individ- 
ual having  capital  ;^  its  refusal  to  confess  that  its  special  ideals  of 
self-help  were  unable  to  cope  with  these  social  problems,  and  last- 
ly its  undervaluing  of  the  historical  imponderables  of  religious 
matters  which  made  it  inept  and  unproductive  in  these  as  it  had 
become  in  economics.  While  it  was  the  man  whom  the  Progres- 
sionists fought  to  the  best  of  their  abilities,  Bismarck,  who  led 
the  Prussian  State  to  create  the  empire,  greatly  desired  by  them, 
and  shaped  it  to  meet  their  needs,  it  is  to  Lassalle  principally 
that  the  credit  is  due  of  having  put  the  knife  to  two  of  the  sore 
points  of  Liberalism,  its  conception  of  State  and  its  attitude  to- 
wards the  social  questions.  As  a  man  of  action  he  thereby  started 
the  emancipation  of  the  workmen  from  the  political  and  eco- 
nomic tutelage  of  the  middle  class.^ 


At  the  time  when  Lassalle  prepares  the  way  for  the  emancipa- 
tion of  the  workmen,  the  Progressionists  are  the  deciding  factors 
in  Prussian  politics.  They  hold  the  leading  position  in  the  Par- 
liament.   So  the  Liberals  are  the  dominating  party  in  the  House 


1  System  der  erworbenen  Rechte ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  183-84.  Cp.  above  p.  74-75. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  282. 


120  I 

when  Leo  returns  to  the  capital.    Both  Leo's  and  Lassalle's  rela- 
tion to  these  Liberals  takes  the  same  course. 

Lassalle  became  aware  that  the  Progressionist  party  was  lack- 
ing energy  and  ability  as  compared  with  the  conservative  and  re- 
actionary, and  Leo  is  for  the  same  reason  disappointed  in  the 
Liberals.  Abroad  he  could  not  explain  to  himself  the  insuflfi- 
ciency  of  the  means  the  party  employed,  and  the  inconsistency 
in  their  tactics.  Now  he  knows  it  is  the  fault  of  the  small  men 
who  pretend  to  be  their  leaders  (I  310).  He  believes  that  it  is 
nonsense  in  politics  to  separate  person  and  things.  These  Liber- 
als are  wretched  philistines  whose  horizon  reaches  no  further 
than  to  the  end  of  their  noses ;  empty  babblers  who  try  to  cover 
under  a  confused  mass  of  words  their  lack  of  original  thoughts; 
petty  critics  who  in  their  pendantry  stick  at  the  dot  over  an  i; 
sly  sophists  who  know  what  must  be  done,  but  from  a  thousand 
sordid  motives  take  care  not  to  speak  the  truth ;  ambitious  place- 
hunters  who  join  the  Opposition  only  to  use  it  as  a  step-ladder  to 
a  prominent  position  in  the  ministry  of  State ;  sports  who  prefer 
a  good  dinner  to  a  good  law ;  puffed  up  money  bags  who  give  no 
farthing  for  a  liberty*  by  which  their  stock  could  fall  half  a 
point.^  The  whole  party  is  a  political  Sodom  without  a  single 
Lot  who  deserves  to  be  saved  (I  311).  Especially  those  among 
them  who  are  continually  mixing  politics  with  ethics  drive  Leo 
to  despair.  He  despises  them  for  allowing  themselves  to  be  led 
by  their  conscience.  They  are  stubborn  in  their  unbearable  purity 
(I  312),  they  want  to  keep  their  hands  clean,  with  such  phrases 
they  try  to  still  their  bad  conscience  { I  398 ) .  Honest  ideologists, 
unpractical  dreamers,  they  make  splendid  speeches  on  the  rela- 
tion of  the  good  and  beautiful  and  true,  and  have  no  strength  to 
accomplish  anything.  They  are  men  without  characters.  But 
there  are  no  talents  without  characters;  men  without  characters 
cannot  think  logically  and  are  subject  to  false  conclusions 
(I  387).  The  Liberals,  therefore,  are  bad  trustees  of  the  spirit- 
ual and  material  treasures  of  the  nation.  They  admit  the  com- 
pliment of  foreigners  that  the  Germans  are  a  nation  of  thinkers, 
but  display,  by  not  realizing  the  identity  of  thinking  and  acting, 
their  complete  bankruptcy  in  energy.  They  will  admit  that  com- 
pliment until  the  genius  of  the  German  people  shall  once  more 


1  Cp.  above  p.  74. 


121 


bring  forth  a  man  who  understands  the  relation  of  Right  and 
Might  somewhat  differently,  and  makes  a  nation  of  acting  peo- 
ple out  of  this  conglomeration  of  apathetic  dreamers  (I  388).  In 
these  chosen  of  the  nation  the  last  spark  of  the  sacred  fire  died 
out  long  ago.  They  are  a  caste  which  once  perhaps  was  needed 
in  the  development  of  German  civilization,  but  has  now  fully 
outlived  itself.  It  is  arrogance  for  them  to  claim  to  be  the  bear- 
ers of  German  culture.  This  treasure  which  lies  buried  in  the 
works  of  the  great  German  poets  and  thinkers  is  too  heavy,  too 
solid  for  such  hands  to  lift  it.  They  have  cheated  the  poor  de- 
luded people  out  of  its  rich  inheritance.  Not  the  slightest  trace 
of  the  nobleness  and  majesty  of  their  spiritual  ancestors  can  be 
found  in  these  miserable  epigones.  They  have  nothing  of  the 
comprehensive  cosmopolitism  of  a  Goethe,  the  ideal  pathos  of  a 
Schiller,  the  fighting  courage  of  a  Lessing,  the  Protestant  de- 
fiance of  a  Kant. 

It  is  evident  that  the  author  in  wording  Leo's  accusation  that 
the  Liberals  are  not  the  bearers  of  German  culture,  has  thought 
of  the  "melancholic  meditation"  at  the  close  of  Lassalle's  work 
"Herr  Bastiat-Schulze  von  Delitzsch,  der  okonomische  Julian 
oder  Kapital  und  Arbeit"  (Berlin,  1864).    Here  we  read: 

"Und  diese  absolute  Versimplung  des  Biirgertums  —  in  dem 
Lande  Lessings  und  Kants,  Sehillers  und  Goethes,  Fiehtes  und 
Kegels :  Sind  diese  geistige  Heroen  wirklich  nur  wie  ein  Zug  von 
Kranichen  iiber  unseren  Hauptern  dahin  gerauscht?  1st  von 
der  immensen  geistigen  Arbeit,  von  der  innerlichen  Weltwende, 
■die  sie  voUbracht,  nichts,  gar  nichts  auf  die  Nation  gekommen, 
und  besteht  der  deutsche  Geist  wirklich  nur  in  einer  Reihe 
einsamer  Individuen,  welcher  jeder  das  Erbteil  seiner  Vorgan- 
ger  treu  iibemehmend,  ihre  Arbeit  in  bitterer  Verachtung  ihrer 
Mitwelt  fortsetzen?^  Welcher  Fluch  hat  das  Biirgertum  enterbt, 
dass  von  all  den  gewaltigen  Kulturarbeiten,  die  in  seiner  Mitte 
gesehahen,  dass  aus  dieser  ganzen  Atmosphare  von  Bildung  kein 


1  This  passage  may  have  contributed  to  paint  Leo  as  the  solitary  thinker,  men- 
tioned above  p.  101,  who  lonesome  goes  through  society  because  he  has 
found  so  few  people  earnestly  striving  to  lift  themselves  over  the  common 
crowd,  the  indolence  and  stupidity  of  which  bring  him  often  to  despair 
(I  293;  547),  a  society  of  fools  which  at  a  moment  he  sees  the  power  he 
so  long  has  wished  for  at  last  in  his  reach  loakes  him  shudder  at  the 
thought  that  he  must  create  a  new  world  with  them  (I  459).  I4usalla  ex- 
presses his  contempt  at  his  Progressionist  contemporaries,  among  whom  he 
walks  his  lonely  path  persecuted  by  State  and  the  Progressionist  press,  also 
in  "Die  indirekte  Steuer,  etc." ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  365. 


122 

einziger  Tropfen  befruchtenden  Taues  in  sein  immermehr  ver- 
trocknendes  Gehim  gef alien?  .  .  .  Der  Burger  feiert  unseren 
Denkern  Feste/  weil  er  niemals  ihre  Werke  gelesen !  Er  wiirde 
sie  verbrennen,  wenn  er  sie  gelesen  hatte  .  .  .  Er  schwarmt  fiir 
Tinsere  Dichter,  weil  er  einige  Verse  von  ihnen  zitieren  kann  oder 
dieses  oder  jenes  Stiick  von  ihnen  gesehen  und  gelesen,  aber  sich 
niemals  in  ihre  Weltanschauung  hineingedaeht  hat. '  '^ 

As  early  as  April,  1862,  Lassalle  had  started  to  execute  the 
death  sentence  on  the  Liberal  party  by  his  pamphlet  "Herr 
Julian  Schmidt,  der  Literarhistoriker. "  It  was  directed  against 
ihe  latter 's  history  of  German  Literature  since  the  death  of  Les- 
sing,  against  the  person  of  the  journalistic  representative  of  the 
Old-Liberals,  but  also  against  the  whole  Liberal  party.  The 
pamphlet  is  the  first  shot  in  a  political  war  in  which  the  Liberals, 
too,  did  not  mind  the  waste  of  powder.^  Lassalle  attacks  in  Julian 
Schmidt,  the  defective  education  of  the  Liberals,  his  disordered 
way  of  thinking,  judging,  his  language,  words  which  always  leer 
at  thoughts,  and  yet  are  arranged  only  superficially,  all  the  sins 
of  a  hasty  journalistic  production ;  but  he  desires  also  to  hit  the 
Constitutional  party,  in  as  much  as  Juliam  Schmidt  in  the  man- 
ner of  a  schoolmaster  and  with  the  want  of  intelligence,  rebuked, 
on  the  one  hand,  Romanticism  and  showed  the  intolerance  of 
prosaic  Protestantism  towards  Catholicism,  and  manifested,  on 
the  other,  a  deep  antipathy  against  modern  German  philosophy, 
especially  Fichte  and  Hegel,  with  their  radical  thoughts.  His 
little-German  Protestant,  realistic-political  soberness  had  at  that 
time  a  forbidding  efPect,  when  it  was  made,  in  such  an  insufficient 
way,  the  critical  measure  of  everything  beautjful  and  profound, 
which  German  genius  had  produced  in  the  past  century.  It 
was  this  mock-intellectual  tendency  which  Lassalle  attacked. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  traits  of  his  character  that  he 
manifests  his  grateful  relation  to  the  intellectual  heroes  of  Ger- 
many. With  a  true  ring  he  defends  poets  like  Uhland,  Platen  and 
Schiller,  against  the  arrogant  pedantry  of  this  intolerable 
journalism,  and  no  less  when  he  defends  the  radical  Fichte 
against  a  too  Prussian  interpretation,  and  his  Hegel  against  this 


1  Perhaps  a  reflection  of  this  passage  is  contained  in  Urban 's  arraignment  of 
the  Liberal  bourgeoisie  for  their  shallow  feasts  (II  332)  ;  op.  Die  Feste,  die 
Presse,  etc. ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  334. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  385  ;  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  30. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  210. 


123 

sorrowful  better-knowing  of  a  philosophic  dilettante.'  But  while 
he  is  utterly  blind  in  respect  to  the  sum  of  culture  and  ability 
and  sublime  idealism,  after  all  characteristic  of  that  generation, 
he  saw  more  justly  their  lack  of  generative  faculty  in  polities, 
harmful  in  the  period  of  the  foundation  of  the  New  Empire.^ 

Beside  the  reproach  of  cultural  inferiority,  these  defects  in 
matters  political  and  social  are  also  voiced  in  the  description  of 
the  Liberals  from  Leo's  viewpoint.  Here  the  relation  of  Might 
and  Right,  which  occupies  such  a  prominent  place  in  the  ideas 
of  the  historical  Democrat  f  his  accusation  that  the  bourgeois  care 
nothing  for  political  liberty  as  such,^  and  that  the  Progression- 
ists are  "falsifiers  of  truth";  his  Hegelian  identification  of 
thinking  and  acting,  and  his  claim  that  the  period  of  the  bour- 
geoisie has  gone  by,  which  are  yet  to  occupy  our  attention,  all 
are  mixed  with  Spielhagen's  ethical  idealism  which  Leo  at- 
tacks in  the  ideologists  of  the  novel. 

While  Leo  will  not  reproach  the  Liberals  with  being  neither 
poets  nor  philosophers,  he  expects  them  to  exhibit  deeds  in  the 
fields  of  politics  as  the  time  requires  politicians,  diplomats  who 
would  be  in  these  fields  what  those  poets  and  philosophers  were 
in  the  purely  spiritual  spheres  (I  392).  So  Lassalle  casts  into 
the  teeth  of  the  leaders  of  the  Liberal  parties  their  mediocrity  in 
political  and  social  matters.  He  finds  that  there  is  no  possibility 
of  coming  to  an  understanding  with  stupid  (Progressionist)  po- 
liticians who  see  in  the  mere  change  of  the  political  form  some- 
thing selfsubsisting  and  exhaustive.*  To  his  mind  they  do  not 
know  what  the  idea  of  the  political  means.  In  the  preface  to  his 
"System  der  erworbenen  Rechte",  he  deems  it  necessary  to  em- 
phasize for  the  benefit  of  the  Liberal  bourgeoisie  that  the  con- 
ception of  acquired  rights  is  the  source  of  all  further  develop- 
ment of  society,  and  that  where  the  Privatrechtliche,  the  civil 
law  matter,  seems  to  become  completely  detached  from  the  poli- 
tical, it  rather  grows  still  more  political,  for  then  it  becomes  the 
social  element.  With  passion  and  animosity  he  reproaches  his 
Progressionist  adversaries  with  their  magnificent  ignorance  in 
economic  matters,  especially  when  they  accuse  him  of  proclaim- 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  209. 

2  Oncken,  I.  c.  p.  386. 

8  Cp.  above  p.  80-81 ;  74-75. 

*  Letter  to  Lothar  Bucher  of  Jan.  1862 ;  Oncken,  I.  c.  p.  202. 


124 

ing  new  and  unheard  of  assertions,  e.  g.  on  the  iron,  cruel  law  of 
wages,  and  on  indirect  taxes.  He  shows  that  what  he  pro- 
claims are  scientific  truths  which,  long  accepted  in  the  world  of 
learning,  have  for  three  hundred  years  found  a  place  in  text- 
books.^ No  doubt,  Lassalle  in  his  "Kapital  und  Arbeit"  and  eco- 
nomic ideas  is  in  every  way  superior  to  the  economic  Liberalism 
of  the  time  as  especially  represented  by  Sehulze-Delizsch,  and 
can  mock  rightfully  at  their  ignorance  in  such  matters.  The  pro- 
gress of  civilization  is  not  due  to  their  realizing  their  economic 
ideas.  It  is  the  progress  of  industry  and  middle  class  produc- 
tion, division  of  labor,  concentration  of  capital  in  their  hands  be- 
cause of  great  discoveries  and  inventions,  the  facilitation  of 
trade,  the  greater  security  of  property  which  draw  the  triumphal 
car  of  the  bourgeoisie.-  So  Leo  says  that  all  progress  in  civiliza- 
tion, the  growth  of  the  cities,  railroads,  telegraphs,  and  capital- 
ism is  not  the  result  of  the  Liberal  ideas  but  of  the  time  which 
has  taken  thought  for  the  bourgeoisie  (II  274-5). 

Considering  this  low  estimate  of  the  moral  and  intellectual 
qualities  of  the  bourgeoisie  in  which  Leo  and  Lassalle  agree,  it 
can  not  surprise  us  to  find  them  in  revolt  against  the  leadership 
of  the  Liberals.  Leo  believes  that  all  acquisitions  of  German  cul- 
ture would,  in  the  most  shameful  way,  be  sold  to  the  lowest  bid- 
der if  one  should  follow  Liberal  leadership ;  the  German  people 
would  be  placed  below  the  level  of  the  other  civilizations  and 
forced  under  the  yoke  of  the  most  despicable  materialism.  But 
these  bourgeois  are  not  the  people.  The  sense  of  the  Germans  is 
not  yet  dead.  They  are  waiting  for  the  prophet  who  shall  inter- 
pret to  them  the  law  which  says  that  the  low  shall  be  raised  and 
the  mighty  lowered  (I  393). 

As  Leo  is  this  prophet,  so  is  Lassalle.  To  him,  too,  the  fourth 
estate  is  the  people,  not  the  bourgeoisie.^  He  predicts  from  the 
domination  of  the  fourth  estate  a  flourishing  period  for  morals, 
culture  and  science  such  as  history  never  saw.  In  possession  of 
power  the  fourth  estate  would,  with  free  will  and  strictest  logical 


1  Die  indirekte  Steuer,  etc.  p.  95 ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  361. 

2  Arbeiterprogram,  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  216. 

3  He  understands  by  this  term  the  upper  middle-class  citizen  who,  not  satisfied 
with  the  actual  comforts  of  riches,  makes  capital  the  condition  for  participa- 
tion in  the  control  of  the  State,  and  has  thus  subjected  the  people  to  bis 
privileged  sway  since  the  possession  of  capital  is  attended  in  Prussia  by  elec- 
toral franchise  and,  therefore,  participation  in  the  control  of  the  State.  Ar- 
beiterprogramm ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  218 ;  cp.  360. 


125 

consequence,  bring  about  what  so  far  has  been  gained  only  piece- 
meal in  the  seantest  outlines  in  a  struggle  with  opposition,  and 
from  this  domination  a  flight  of  spirituality,  the  development  of 
a  sum  of  happiness,  culture,  welfare  and  liberty  would  spring, 
such  as  would  be  without  example  in  the  world's  history.^  And 
on  the  advancement  of  the  working  class  on  these  lines  Lassalle 
has  set  his  mind.  In  the  Song  to  Learning,  "die  "Wissenschaft 
und  die  Arbeiter",  in  which  the  genuine  Lassalle,  with  his  wor- 
ship of  all  intellectual  knowledge  and  scientific  work,  manifests 
himself,^  he  exclaims  that,  since  he  has  breathed,  he  has  resolved 
to  devote  his  life  to  the  alliance  of  learning  and  the  working 
people.  For  only  this  alliance  can  engender  new  life  in 
European  conditions.^ 

In  comparison  with  this  people  the  Progressionist  bourgeois 
are,  before  the  impatient  mind  of  Lassalle,  only  insignificant  men, 
the  embodiment  of  weakness  and  inability  to  act  in  political 
and  economic  matters.  Lassalle  is  the  man  of  action.  As  a  dis- 
ciple of  Hegel  he  devotes  himself  to  pure  science  in  order  to  in- 
fluence politics,  or  seeks  to  realize  in  practical  politics  the  postu- 
lates of  science,  as  Leo  demands  the  identification  of  thinking 
and  acting  (I  388).^  Lassalle 's  originality  lies  in  converting  into 
actions  ideas  which,  for  the  most  part,  did  not  spring  from  his 
mind,  and  his  greatness  consists  in  his  quality  of  politician  and 
agitator.  He  finds,  consequently,  most  fault  with  the  lack  of  vigor 
of  the  Liberals.  The  Progressionist  House  which,  during  the 
Prussian  Conflict,  stands  inactive  on  the  ground  of  law,  because 
it  does  not  want  to  unchain  the  power  of  the  lowest  social  strata 
and  does  not  understand  the  aims  of  Bismarck's  policies,  he  at- 
tacks for  not  showing  the  necessary  energy  to  embarrass  the 
energetic  Government*  and  thus  prepare  the  way  for  liberty.^ 
He  attempts  to  urge  the  Liberal  parties  to  a  greater  resistance 
to  their  resolute  antagonist  when  he  sees  that  they  feel  perfectly 
powerless  and  are  unable  to  do  the  least  thing  for  the  real  de- 
velopment of  Liberal  interests.**  He  blames  them  for  allowing 
themselves  to  be  frightened  by  the  threats  of  their  opponents, 
for  not  changing  their  tactics  in  their  contests  with  the  reac- 

1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  221.     Cp.  aboye  p.  72 ;  below  p.  132. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  247  ;  250. 

3  Cp.  above  p.  120.  > 

*Zur  Arbeiterfrange ;  Oncken,  1. /c.  p.  294. 

5  Die  Feste,  die  Presse,  etc. ;  Oncxen,  1.  c.  p.  333. 

«  Oflenes  Antwortschreiben ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  257-58. 


126 

tionary  Government,  and  carrying  out  their  will  defiantly/  He 
reproaches  them  in  his  Frankfurt  speech  of  May  19,  1863,  with 
that  lack  of  energy  which  is  afraid  of  the  ultima  ratio  regum  of 
which  Miinzer  speaks,  and  in  the  Solingen  speech  above  men- 
tioned, he  exclaims : 

' '  Die  Fortschrittler  liebaugeln  mit  den  Fiirsten,  um  —  Herm 
von  Bismarck  bange  zu  machen !  Sie  hoffen  ihn  einzuschiichtem 
durch  Kokettieren  mit  den  deutschen  Fiirsten.  Das  sind  die 
Mittel  dieser  Aermsten!  Und  wenn  wir  Flintenschiisse  mit 
Herrn  von  Bismarck  wechselten,  so  wiirde  die  Gerechtigkeit 
erfordern,  noch  wahrend  der  Salven  einzugestehn :  Er  its  ein 
Mann,  jene  aber  sind  —  alte  Weiber. '  '- 

When  the  Progressionists  fear  this  ultima  ratio  regum  —  the 
tyranny,  exercised  b}^  the  nobility  and  other  reactionary  in  DvH, 
being  now  that  of  the  Fortschrittler,  a  parallel  may  be  cited 
from  Miinzer 's  great  plea  expressing  the  same  thoughts  (733) : 

"Dass  Sie  Ihr  Haupt  noch  so  frei  erheben  konnen,  wie  Sie  es 
tun,  ist  wahrlich  nieht  Ihr  Yerdienst,  es  ist  das  Verdienst  des 
unsterblichen  Gesindels,'*  vor  dem  die  Tyrannei  mehr  Respekt 
hat,  als  sie  sich  merken  lasst,  von  dem  sie  —  .  .  .so  viel  nieder- 
knallt,  als  sie  irgend  vermag,  dem  sie  dann  aber  auch  wieder 
Konzessionen  macht ' ' —  it  is  not  the  fear  of  the  Government 
but  rather  that  of  the  people.  They  fear  the  people  more  than 
absolutism,  and  therefore,  continue  prostrating  themselves, 
whining  at  the  feet  of  the  throne,  even  if  it  rains  kicks,  declaring 
that  they  will  not  give  up  hope,*  and  humiliate  themselves  by 
compromises  in  order  to  get  a  slice  of  power  through  their  trans- 
actions with  the  Government  instead  of  fighting  for  the  people's 
rights  with  all  the  might  inherent  in  democracy.^ 

Lassalle,  therefore,  fights  with  passion  and  energy  against  the 
Liberal  papers  and  the  defects  of  their  contributors.^  The 
character  of  the  Liberal  press  is  to  his  mind  a  fatal  symptom  of 
the  decomposition  of  the  party.  Their  capitalistic  interests 
which  they  themselves  confess  to  be  the  reason  for  the  cowardly 
silence  they  keep  before  the  press  regulations  made  by  the  Gov- 


1  Was  nun?  Cp.  above  p.  80. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  336. 

3  Cp.  above  p.  51. 

4  Arbeiterlesebuch ;    Oucken,   1.   c.   p.   320. 

5  Macht  und  Recbt ;   Ansprache  an  die  Arbeiter  Berlins ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  245  ; 
389. 

6  Arbeiterleaebiich  ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  316. 


127 

ernment,  after  the  premature  adjournment  of  the  Chamber, 
and  the  compromises  they  make  instead  of  taking  forceful 
measures  at  once,  prove  their  whole  weakness  and  immorality. 
They  try  to  demonstrate  to,  and  impress  on,  the  people  these 
purely  business  concessions  as  so  many  new  viewpoints  of  the 
general  spirit,  representing  them  as  developments  and  whole- 
some compromises  of  the  life  of  the  people.  In  so  doing,  they 
poison  the  national  mind  through  their  stupendous  ignorance, 
uuscrupulousness,  "eunuch-hatred"  against  everything  which  is 
true  and  great  in  politics,  art  and  science.^ 

All  petty  diplomatic  intrigues,  all  half  measures  and  dissimu- 
lation are  to  Lassalle  an  object  of  aversion.-  In  the  debate  held 
at  Frankfurt  o/M  in  May,  1863,  which,  because  of  the  non-ap- 
pearance of  his  Progressionist  opponent,  Schulze-Delitzsch,  be- 
came a  rather  one-sided  affair,  Lassalle  is  called  to  order.  He 
answers  in  his  defense  that  if  he  expresses  himself  without  any 
varnish,  he  does  not  become  personal  but  rude,  and  continues : 

' '  Grob  muss,  kann  und  darf  ich  sein,  und  das  werde  ich  Ihnen 
beweisen.  Grob  muss  jeder  Vertreter  einer  grossen  Sache  sein 
gegen  alle  solche,  die  sich  falschend  zwischen  ihn  und  seinen 
grossen  Zweck  werfen  und  ich  bin  entschlossen,  mit  geistigen 
Keulenschlagen  jeden  zu  Boden  zu  schlagen,  der  sich  zwischen 
Sie  (the  working  people)  und  mich  falschend  drangt."^  From 
the  start  of  his  agitation  Lassalle  had  risen  against  dissimula- 
tion. We  have  seen  how  this  is  connected  with  the  underlying 
idea  of  his  ' '  Franz  von  Sikkingen. ' '  Franz  exclaims :  ' '  Mit  der 
Wahrheit  ist  kein  Unterhandeln. "  And  Balthasar:  "Wen 
tauschest  Du  ?  nicht  Deine  Feinde. ' ' 

"Drum  hiille  stets  vom  Scheitel  bis  zu  Sohle 
Dich  kiihn  in  Deines  eignen  Banners  Farbe. 
Dann  probst  Du  aus  dem  ungeheuren  Streit 
Die  ganze  Triebkraft  Deines  wahren  Bodens 
Und  stehst  und  fallst  mit  Deinem  ganzen  Konnen." 
And  in  1862,  Lassalle  reproaches  the  Progressionists,  in  his 
sharp  attack  on  the  Volkzeitung,  with  their  attempt  to  change 

1  Die  Feste,  etc.  ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  334-35  ;  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  98. 

2  Was  nun  ? ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  240. 

3  Arbeiterlesebuch,  p.  15.  His  pamphlet  '"Ansprache  an  die  Arbelter  Berlins" 
of  Oct.  1863,  contains  also  a  passionate  polemic  against  the  radical  Berlin 
newspapers  Volkszeitung  and  Berliner  Reform,  read  chiefly  by  the  work- 
ing class,  on  account  of  the  false  reports  on  his  Solingen  speech  of  Sept. 
1863,  the  correction  of  which  these  papers  refused  to  print.  Cp.  Oncken,  1. 
c.  p.  387,  and  below  p.  139. 


128 

the  reactionary  attitude  of  the  Government  by  continually  calling 
it  constitutional  and  thus  persuading  it  to  believe  itself  constitu- 
tional. But,  says  he,  all  real  success  in  life  as  well  as  in  history, 
can  be  obtained  only  by  doing-the-thing-over-again,  never  by  call- 
ing a  thing  what  it  is  not,  i.  e.  by  trying  to  change  it  by  lies,  dis- 
simulation and  compromises.  Every  great  political  action  consists 
in,  and  begins  with,  uttering  that  which  is.^  The  strongest 
diplomacy  is  to  him  that  which  nee,ds  no  secrecy  for  its  calcula- 
tions because  it  is  founded  on  iron  necessity.^ 

This  whole  list  of  sins  committed,  to  Lassalle's  mind,  by  the 
Progressionists,  their  lack  of  energy  and  inability  in  political 
and  economic  matters,  their  concessions  to,  and  compromises 
with,  the  powers  that  be,  is  found  also  with  the  Liberals  with 
whom  Leo  enters  into  war.  Leo  sees  that  the  Liberals  exhibit  no 
such  energy  against  Reaction  as"  they  should ;  their  concessions 
and  compromises  are  the  signs  of  their  weak  knees  and  lack  of 
vigor  (I  398).  In  transacting  with  the  prince  and  his  party, 
they  commit  the  folly  of  regarding  him  a  Liberal  —  as  Lassalle 
reproaches  the  Progressionists  with  their  blind  confidence  in 
the  New  Era,  in  1862^  as  the  cause  of  the  Prussian  Conflict — 
while  he  really  is  a  Reactionary  of  the  first  order,  and  has  his 
faithful  following  in  the  people  of  the  Reactionary  *Zeitung 
(I  313).  A  majority  of  the  Liberal  party  employ  also  the 
diplomatic  intrigues  of  which  Lassalle  accuses  the  Progression- 
ists. They  are  the  capitalists  among  the  Liberals.  They  think 
it  is  wise  to  lean  toward  the  prince  since  he,  in  all  probability, 
will  ascend  the  throne  ere  long,  and  then  will  remember  that  he 
received  favors  from  them  at  a  time  when  he  suffered  from  the 
jealousy  of  the  Cabinet  (I  313).  And  lastly,  the  reproach  which 
Lassalle  voices  against  his  Progressionist  opponents  at  Frank- 
furt that,  falsifying,  they  step  between  him  and  his  great  aims, 
offers  us  the  explanation  of  the  predicate  ''Counterfeiters  of 
truth,"  which  Leo  gives  to  his  Liberal  adversaries.  He  con- 
cedes there  are  some  members  of  the  party  who  have  the  best 
intentions  with  the  laboring  classes,  but  they  are  insignificant 
men  who  have  neither  the  intellectual  power  to  penetrate  to  the 
depth  of  the  labor  question  —  Lassalle  contra  Schulze-Delitzsch 


1  Was  nun?  p.  24.     Cp.  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  240-41  and  above  p.  108;  and  below 
p.  139. 

2  Hochverratsprozess,  p.  44. 

3  Was  nun? ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  241. 


129 

. —  nor  the  moral  strength  to  realize  the  little  they  have  recog- 
nized (I  508).  But  the  Liberal  party,  as  a  whole,  draws  the  veil 
over  the  truth  that  the  people  starve,  and  great  reforms  are 
necessary  to  cure  the  dreadful  evils  (I  398).  The  learned  and 
Pharisees,  the  wise  and  the  scribes,  the  rich  and  mighty,  close 
their  eyes  and  hearts  to  the  misery  about  them  (I  542).  The 
money  bags  and  presumptious  moralists  are  not  willing  to  deal 
honestly  with  the  people.  They  are  the  parasites  which  cause 
the  whole  body  of  the  State  to  wither  away  (II  138),  and  the 
most  influential  members  of  the  Liberal  party  are  the  Baal 
priests  and  worshippers  of  the  golden  calf  (I  393),  the  tormen- 
ters  of  the  workmen  whose  helpless  conditions  they  know 
enough  to  draw  profit  from  (I  481;  509).  They  are  the 
"Wahrheitsfalscher",  the  counterfe^^rs  of  truth,  in  denying 
that  there  exists  any  misery  among  the  laboring  classes,  and  if 
this  misery  can  be  grasped  with  hands,  then  it  is  to  their  minds 
hut  a  temporary  condition  (I  234). 


No  sooner  has  Leo  become  convinced  that  the  Liberals  will  do 
nothing  for  all  this  misery  than  his  endeavors  are  directed  to- 
wards doing  the  work  he  has  in  mind  without  them,  and  form- 
ing his  own  party.  So  Lassalle,  in  the  opening  of  his  speech, 
"Die  Feste,  die  Presse  und  der  Frankfurter  Abgeordnetentag", 
declares  the  slackness  of  conduct  of  the  Progressionists  and 
their  unwillingness  to  agree  to  improve  the  eonditions  of  the 
working  people,  to  have  been  the  cause  for  his  starting  his  own 
movement.^  While  the  novelist  has  very  fully  illustrated  the 
intellectual  and  moral  qualities  of  the  parties  at  war,  the  strug- 
gle of  Leo  does  not  occupy  that  space  which  would  be  due  to  a 
description  of  Lassalle 's  contest  with  the  Progressionists.  Of 
all  ^the  points  of  dispute  there  appears  plainly  in  IRuG  only 
the  contrast  of  "  Staatsintervention, "  State  subsidy,  which 
Lassalle  advocates,  and  "Selbsthilfe",  self-help,  the  shibboleth 
of  Liberal  economics.  But  while  the  political  stands  rather  in 
the  background,  all  main  parallels  can,  nevertheless,  be  recog- 
nized. 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  333 :  337. 


,,, 


130 

Leo  makes  preparations  to  come  into  the  possession  of  that 
power  of  which  he  always  has  dreamt,  and  Lassalle  saw  at 
the  time  of  the  passionate  election  contest  for  the  Pmssian 
House  of  Representatives,  in  April,  1862,  that  the  moment  had 
arrived  for  him  to  assume  that  leadership  which  had  been  the 
dream  of  his  youth,  and  to  realize  his  ideals  of  social  progress. 
Under  the  influence  of  Marx  he  had  become  convinced  that  the 
organization  of  the  masses  of  the  fourth  estate  would  lead  to  a 
mighty  impulsive  force  of  the  proletariat.^  But  his  thoughts 
went  further,  prompted  by  personal  motives.  Was  there  not 
the  greatest  likelihood  that  he  who  should  succeed  in  putting 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  masses  and  in  collecting  them  as 
troups,  who,  in  their  devotion  to  their  leader,  would  not  fear 
even  death,  might  win  for  himself  an  immense  personal  power t 
.  .  Would  it  not  be  possible  to  step  into  the  arena  as  a  political 
reformer  at  the  head  of  a  great  party  and  to  enforce  his  will  on 
the  ruling  factors?^  What  social  questions  ever  had  been  in 
Germany  had,  since  1848,  completely  disappeared  from  the 
scene.  The  old  democratic  party  existed  no  longer.  Lassalle  had 
devoted  himself  more  industriously  to  the  study  of  political  econ- 
omy. Now,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixties,  he  saw  proposed  for 
the  solution  of  the  great  social  problems,  means  which,  to  his 
mind,  were  entirely  insufficient  to  remedy  the  state  of  distress 
(or  what  he  tried  to  demonstrate  as  such).^  He  felt  a  deep  com- 
passion for  the  workmen.  His  social  position  and  his  past  exclud- 
ed him  for  ever  from  working  as  a  dictator  from  above  for  his 
ideas  and  the  welfare  of  the  people.  The  masses  had  been  debar- 
red from  politics  for  12  years.  Lassalle  saw  that  the  disciplining 
of  the  masses  could  procure  him  a  direct  influence  on  the  Govern- 
ment.* The  scholar  contended  with  the  politician.  The  *  *  Arbei- 
terfiihrer"  who  saw  already  the  great  party  behind  him,  at  the 
moment  when  he  conceived  the  idea,  clearly  carried  the  day. 

The  Liberal  era  had  come  to  an  end  March  19,  1862,  the 
House  had  been  adjourned,  and  a  conservative  Cabinet  selected 
from  among  higher  State  officials.  The  Progressionist  party 
called  to  arms  for  the  safeguarding  of  the  constitutional  rights. 


1  Cp.  above  p.  91. 

2  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  29  f . 

3  Arbeiterlesebuch ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  311. 

4  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  83  11. 


131 

and  the  definite  realization  of  a  completely  constitutional  State 
in  Prussia.  To  decide  between  Government  and  Parliament,  all 
forces  of  the  nation,  even  those  of  the  lowest  strata  which  had 
been  silent  for  a  long  time,  had  to  be  set  in  motion.  Lassalle  de- 
livered, April  12, 1862,  about  a  fortnight  before  the  new  elections, 
in  the  (Progressionist)  trades  union  of  the  Oranienburg  suburb 
of  Berlin,  the  so-called  machine-maker  quarter,  that  speech 
which  was  to  become  the  starting  point  of  the  social  democratic 
movement  in  Germany:  "Ueber  den  besonderen  Zusammen- 
hang  der  gegenwartigen  Geschichtsperiode  mit  der  Idee  des 
Arbeiterstandes, ' '  which  later  was  published  as  a  pamphlet  with 
the  headtitle  "Arbeiterprogramm".  Four  days  later  he  spoke 
"Ueber  Verf assungswesen, "  in  a  Berlin  ward  club. 

As  in  today's  social  democracy,  democracy  and  socialism, 
originally  sprung  from  different  sources,  are  inseparable  con-  /^ 
stituents  of  the  party,  so  these  two  speeches  of  Lassalle,  only  in 
connection  with  one  another,  give  the  right  idea  of  what  he  was 
about.^  But,  since  in  IRuG  the  political  stands  in  the  back- 
ground, the  speech  on  Constitutional  Matters  is  reflected  in  the 
novel  only  very  scantily,  while  in  DvH  the  constitutional  ques- 
tions, determined  by  Lassalle  as  questions  of  Might  in  their  ori- 
gin and  not  those  of  Right,  hold  a  prominent  place.  It  is,  there- 
fore, for  our  purpose  necessary  to  state  only,  that  Lassalle  in 
this  speech  shows  himself  a  realistic  politician,  who,  in  contrast 
with  the  Liberal  attitude  to  the  Conflict  as  a  point  of  law,  sees  in 
the  reorganization  of  the  army  and  its  political  consequences,  a 
question  of  Might,  pure  and  simple.  As  a  consistent  democrat 
of  1848,  he  will  not  stand  on  the  side  of  the  Liberals  in  their  at- 
tempt to  defend  the  Constitution.  For  this  Constitution  of  Dec. 
5^1848,  was  really  an  unlawful  act,  being  in  contradiction  to  the 
actual  means  of  power,  retained  by  the  king  undiminished, 
though  he  had  made  concessions,  it  is  true.  The  lower  middle 
class,  therefore  —  Lassalle  tries  to  impress  this  on  them  —  have 
no  interest  whatever  in  the  Prussian  conflict  as  far  as  the  Con- 
stitution is  concerned.  But  they  must  adopt  the  true  democratic 
program,  and  so  Lassalle  sends  out  to  the  unorganized  masses 
of  society  the  war-cry  to  enter  with  this  program  into  the  fight 
fcr  power.2 

1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  211. 

2  Oncken.  1.  c.  p.  214. 


132 

More  important  for  us  is  the  Arbeiterprogramm.  For  here 
these  unorganized  masses  are  to  be  imbued  with  the  conviction 
that  they  form  an  economically  independent  group  of  interests 
who  have  nothing  in  common  with  the  Liberals,  and  that  they 
represent  the  power  of  the  future  in  ethical,  spiritual  and  politi- 
cal respects.  The  power  of  the  nobility  and  church,  says  Lassalle, 
was  broken  by  the  great  French  revolution  of  1789,  and  the 
bourgeoisie  has  taken  their  place.  The  bourgeoisie  tries  to 
make  the  State  serviceable  to  its  ends,  and  throws  the  indirect 
taxes,  which,  in  reality,  make  the  material  existence  of  the  State 
possible,  on  the  politically  outlawed,  while  the  bourgeois  pay  the 
direct  taxes  which  cover  only  a  small  part  of  public  expenditure. 
Thus  they  exercize  political  domination.  But  since  Feb.  24, 
1848,  the  fourth  estate  has  begun  to  raise  its  principle  to  be  the 
principle  of  society,  and  to  permeate  with  this  all  its  institu- 
tions. This  fourth  estate  means  the  whole  human  race.  Its 
cause,  therefore,  is  the  cause  of  all  mankind,  its  liberty  the  lib- 
erty of  mankind,  its  rule  the  rule  of  all.  And  then  Lassalle 
shows  that  the  rule  of  the  fourth  estate  will  bring  about  the  in- 
tellectual, moral  and  cultural  bloom  mentioned  above.  The 
domination  of  the  fourth  estate  will  also  cause  a  different  con- 
ception of  the  ethical  idea  of  State  than  the  "  nightwatchman 
idea"  of  the  bourgeoisie.  For  the  Progressionists,  seeing  the 
ethical  end  of  the  State  exclusively  in  the  protection  of  the  in- 
dividual and  his  property,  the  State  is  nothing  but  a  watchman 
whose  only  function  is  the  prevention  of  robbery  and  burglary. 
The  ethical  idea  of  the  workmen  estate,  on  the  other  hand,  in- 
tent on  abolishing  privileges,  is  this,  that  in  a  well  ordered  com- 
monwealth the  solidarity  of  interests,  community  and  mutuality 
of  development  must  predominate,  and  a  State  which  is  placed 
under  the  "idea"  of  the  fourth  estate  will  consequently,  with 
greatest  clearness  and  perfect  consciousness,  make  this  ethical 
nature  of  State  its  aim.  "Die  hohe  weltgeschichtliche  Ehre 
dieser  Bestimmung  (that  the  working  class  is  called  to  raise  its 
principle  to  be  the  ruling  principle  of  the  whole  period)  muss 
alle  Ihre  Gedanken  in  Anspruch  nehmen.^  Es  ziemen  Ihnen 
nicht  mehr  die  Lasten  der  Unterdriickten,  noch  die  miissigen 
Zerstreuungen   der   Gedankenlosen,   noch   selbst   der   harralose 


1  Cp.  above  p.  76. 


133 

Leiehtsinn  der  Unbedeutenden.  Sie  sind  der  Fels,  auf  welchem 
die  Kirehe  der  Gegenwart  gebaut  werden  soU."^  The  formal 
means  for  obtaining  this  domination  is  the  general  and  direct 
suffrage. 

At  a  moment  when  the  crown  was  developing  its  greatest  energy 
to  increase  its  power,  and  the  Liberals  were  working  for  having 
a  greater  share  in  the  government,  then,  Lassalle  announced 
the  claim  of  elements  whose  self-consciousness  he  must  first 
arouse,  and  showed  them  a  route  in  the  approaching  constitu- 
tional conflict  which  demanded  a  change  of  the  State  from  the 
bottom,  and  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  be  their  leader.^  The 
political  development  in  the  Prussia  of  1862,  was  not  based  on 
an  opposition  between  bourgeois  and  workmen.^  Lassalle  ideal- 
ized his  agitatorial  aim,  not  by  spurring  the  massive  covetousness 
of  the  proletariat,  or  beginning  over  again  the  old  play  with 
republican  velleites,  but  by  pointing  out  with  the  aid  of  great 
historical  periods  as  a  background,  the  necessity  of  the  new  social 
class  with  its  own  high  ideals  and  deeper  ethical  title  in  innermost 
connection  with  the  State  of  the  future/''  The  weight  of  the 
Arbeiterprogramm  lies  in  this  act  of  the  political  head.  Lassalle 
had  rightly  recognized  a  great  and  indisputable  tendency  of  the 
modern  history  of  European  civilized  nations,  and  the  event 
consisted  in  his  communicating  this  knowledge  in  concise  and 
pregnant  form  to  the  Prussian  workmen,  in  order  to  awaken  in 
them  the  spirit  of  a  social  class  and  the  consciousness  of  a  politi- 
cal power.-  But  the  impression  of  these  two  speeches  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  lasting.  In  the  new  elections  the  Progression- 
ists became  the  indisputable  masters  of  the  House.  The  State, 
however,  understood  their  importance,  calling  Lassalle  to  ac- 
count—  nothing  of  his  defense  at  the  trial  of  Jan.  16,  1863, 
"Die  Wissenschaft  und  die  Arbeiter",  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  detached  thoughts*  is  reflected  in  IRuG  —  and  the  flrst  an- 
swer came  from  the  non-Prussian  working  people.  The  Leipzig 
committee,  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  turned  to  Lassalle 
Feb.,  1863. 

Tlie  new  gospel  which  he  proclaims  in  this  Arbeiterprogramm 
and  his  Offenes  Antwortschreiben  presently  to  be  discussed,  was, 


1  Cp.  above  p.  109. 
a  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  230 ;  229. 
3  Cp.  above  p.  113  ;  57. 
*  Cp.  above  p.  31. 


no  doubt,  before  Spielhagen's  mind  when  he  makes  Leo  voice 
the  need  of  "Staatssubvention"  (=Lassalle's  Staatsinterven- 
tion^)  in  the  (Liberal)  workmen's  union  (I  350).  Beside  the 
reference  to  State  subsidy  there  are  found  various  ideas  which 
Leo  seems  to  have  taken  directly  from  the  Arbeiterprogramm. 
He  says  for  instance:  The  future  belongs  to  the  workmen,  for 
it  is  not  the  class  but  mankind,  who  in  them  and  with  them  con- 
tend for  an  existence  worthy  of  man  (I  510).  The  workmen, 
too,  are  to  lift  up  their  heads  in  liberty  and  be  blessed  by  the 
enjoyment  of  art  (I  512).  But  now  liberty  which  grants  not 
only  the  right  but  also  the  possibility  of  an  existence  worthy  of 
man,  is  withheld  from  the  labor  class.  The  capitalists  hold  back 
such  a  right  as  is  the  workman's  due,  and,  therefore,  Right  with- 
out truth  reigns  in  the  State  (I  548), 

However,  Spielhagen  does  not  follow  here  the  chronological 
order  of  history,  or  keep  the  Arbeiterprogramm  apart  from  the 
Offenes  Antwortschreiben.  Leo  founds  his  own  workmen's  union 
in  which  he  proclaims  his  new  gospel  before  the  Tuchheim  depu- 
tation apply  to  him,  while  Lassalle  first  meets  the  Leipzig  com- 
mittee, and  after  having  voiced  his  ideas  more  fully  in  his  Open 
Letter  than  was  required  by  the  purpose  of  his  Arbeiterpro- 
gramm, brings  about  the  formation  of  the  AUgemeine  deutsche 
Arbeiterverein.  But  this  change  in  chronology  is  of  no  conse- 
quence, and  the  combination  of  the  two  works  has  an  inner  jus- 
tification. Leo  continues  both  in  his  Workmen's  Union  and  with 
the  deputation  along  the  way  shown  by  Lassalle  which  is  to 
separate  him  completely  from  the  Liberals  and  lead  him  to 
join  the  factors  of  power  existing  in  the  State.  He  directs  his 
new  Union  to  the  State  (I  454)  and  the  deputation  to  that  power 
which,  by  destiny,  is  ordained  to  serve  the  people,  for  the  bour- 
geois, the  party  that  lives  only  by  exploiting  the  workmen,  can 
be  conquered  but  by  the  royal  power  (I  509). 

So  far  as  to  appeal  to  the  royal  power,  in  his  Open  Letter,  how- 
ever, Lassalle  did  not  go.  But  it  signified  a  balancing  of  ac- 
counts with  the  Progressionist  party.  It  was  an  action  that  af- 
fected the  whole  German  nation,  by  reviving,  as  with  the  touch 
of  a  wand,  and  causing  to  reappear  in  a  new  political  party,  so- 
cialism which,  Lassalle  writes  half  a  year  later,  the  German 


1  Cp.  below  p.  136 ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  312 ;  315. 


135 

blockheads  a  la  Schulze-Delitzsch,  had  been  thinking  dead  for  a 
long  time.  The  Offenes  Antwortschreiben  has  become  the 
starting  point  of  the  present  day  German  labor  movement.^  The 
workman,  says  Lassalle,  can  expect  the  realization  of  his  legiti- 
mate interests  only  through  political  liberty  and  in  complete 
independence  from  the  Progressionist  party  whose  appendage 
he  has  been,  and  for  whom  he  has  formed  so  far  only  the  "un- 
selfish chorus  and  sounding  board. ' '  The  working  class  must  con- 
stitute themselves  as  an  independent  political  party  and  make 
universal  and  direct  suffrage  their  rallying-words.  The  platform 
most  be  to  care  for  the  legitimate  interests  of  the  working  peo- 
ple by  Representatives  of  their  own  in  the  Chambers.  This  new 
party  is  to  join  with  the  Progressionists  only  in  such  questions 
in  which  a  common  interest  is  to  be  furthered,  but  it  is  to  op- 
pose them  when  they  act  against  the  interest  of  the  workmen, 
thus  compelling  them  to  a  more  energetic  development  and  a 
greater  heed  of  the  workmen's  needs.  In  respect  to  the  social 
questions  Lassalle  concedes  that  savings-banks,  charitable  funds 
and  banks  for  the  invalid  and  sick,  are  relatively  valuable  for 
such  individual  workingmen  as  live  or  are  reduced  below  the 
normal  standard  of  the  working  class,  but  they  are  not  sufficient 
to  better  the  standard  of  the  whole  class  and  to  raise  them  above 
the  existing  conditions.  The  Schulze-Delitzsch  organizations, 
his  loan  and  credit,  raw  products  and  consumers  societies,  are 
all  unable  to  cause  a  social  betterment  of  the  working  class  as 
such.  Especially  the  consumers-societies  cannot  help  the  work- 
ing class  as  such  because,  when  they  are  extended  to  the  great 
masses  of  the  workers  and  consequently  cause  a  general  cheap- 
ening of  the  standard  of  life,  the  wages  fall,  since  they  depend 
on  the  cost  of  those  things  that  are  most  necessary  for  living. 
For  the  ''iron,  cruel"  economic  law  that  the  average  wages  al- 
ways remain  reduced  to  the  barest  amount  needed  for  that  sub- 
sistence which,  in  a  certain  nation,  is  the  standard  for  the  pro- 
longation of  existence  and  propagation,  determines  the  amount 
of  wages  under  such  conditions  as  exist  today  under  the  law  of 
supply  and  demand.  This  iron,  cruel  law  can  be  done  away 
with  only  by  the  workingmen  becoming  their  own  entrepreneurs 
by  applying  the  principle  of  association  to  manufacture  on  a 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  257. 


136 

large  scale.  Through  the  application  of  this  principle  the  dif- 
ference that  exists  between  the  wages  and  the  entrepreneur's 
profit  will  be  abolished,  and  the  profit  produced  by  labor  will 
take  the  place  of  wages.  The  working  people  must,  with  the 
aid  of  the  State,  be  given  the  power  to  organize  themselves  as 
their  own  entrepreneurs  through  voluntary  associations  in  the 
most  peaceful,  legal  and  simple  way.  The  State  must  consider 
it  its  holiest  duty  to  render  such  self -organization  and  self -asso- 
ciation feasible.  For  the  State  is  the  greatest  association  of  the 
poorer  classes,  since  89  to  96  per  cent  of  the  population  live  in 
oppression.  This  ' '  Staatsintervention "  will  be  possible  but  by 
universal  and  direct  suffrage.  If  the  legislative  bodies  of  Ger- 
many spring  from  such  suffrage,  then  only  can  the  State  be  made 
to  fulfill  this  common  duty.  The  universal  and  direct  suffrage 
is  not  only  the  political  but  also  the  social  principle,  the  basic 
condition,  for  all  social  help.  It  is  the  only  means  of  bettering 
the  material  position  of  the  workingman.  Lassalle  closes  with 
the  invitation  to  organize  a  General  German  Workingmen's 
Union  with  the  purpose  of  a  peaceful  and  legal  agitation  for  the 
introduction  of  this  kind  of  suffrage  in  all  German  State.  "Das 
allgemeine  Wahlrecht  von  89  to  96  pro  cent  der  Bevolkerung 
als  Magenfrage  aufgefasst  and  daher  auch  mit  der  Magenwarme 
durch  den  ganzen  nationalen  Korper  hin  verbreitet  —  seien  Sie 
ganz  unbesorgt,  es  gibt  keine  Macht,  die  sich  dem  lange  wider- 
setzen  wiirde. " 

In  passmg  it  may  be  said  that  expressions  taken  from  the 
domain  of  medicine,  such  as  Lassalle  uses  in  the  passage  just 
cited  and  in  others,  presumably  have  caused  Spielhagen  to  make 
Leo  a  physician.  Especially  the  rhetorical  figures  employed  by 
Leo  in  his  conversation  with  the  king  (II  138;  ep.  also  I  296), 
are  significant  in  this  respect.^ 

In  contrast  with  Leo-Lassalle's  demand  for  State-help,  the 
Liberals  in  IRuG  praise  self-help  as  the  best  and  only  means  for 
the  social  uplift  of  the  working  classes.  At  first  they  do  nothing 
for  the  proletariat.  With  the  exception  of  the  ideologists  who 
have  taken  up  reformatory  thoughts  and  feel  sympathy  with  the 
poor  and  miserable,  they  bear,  to  use  their  characterization  by 
the  heroine  in  Freigeboren  (293),  all  the  marks  of  that  party 


1  Or  an  influence  of  Georg  Buchner?     Cp.  R.  M.  Meyer,  1.  c.  I,  165. 


137 

which  has  sold  itself  altogether  to  capitalism,  and  dominates 
legislature  in  the  service  of  the  golden  International.  They 
ascribe  misery,  if  it  exists  at  all,  to  bad  government  and  the  mis- 
use of  privileges  and  find  it  very  natural  that  a  proletariat 
should  be  found  hungry  for  a  time,  because  of  an  unfavorable 
conjuncture  (I  234).  They  had  done  their  best  to  develop  the 
agricultural  into  an  industrial  State.  The  rising  entrepreneur 
class  strive  with  all  their  might  to  lower  the  cost  of  production 
(I  241),  and  oppose  making  the  most  insignificant  concessions  to 
the  workmen  (II  173).  That  it  might  be  the  task  of  the  State 
to  participate  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  how  to  better  the 
economic  condition  of  the  proletariat  finds  no  understanding  or 
approval  with  them.  They  fail  to  appreciate,  like  the  partisans 
of  the  Manchester  school,  that  Leo,  as  Lassalle  did,  believes  in 
the  power  of  the  State,  not  only  as  the  protector,  but  as  the 
promoter  of  justice  and  culture.  The  State  to  which  Leo  directs 
the  workmen  is  in  the  eyes  of  the  Liberals  some  despotism 
whether  it  be  called  comite  de  salut  public,  directorate,  dictator, 
or  emperor  (I  454).  Nobody  can  permanently  raise  the  scale 
of  wages,  for  they  depend  on  the  international  market  (II  176). 
To  their  minds  it  is  only  self-help  that,  on  the  ground  of  full 
individual  economic  liberty,  brings  lasting  improvement: 
''Griindet  Genossenschaften  und  seid  Mehrer  Eurer  allgemei- 
nen  und  fachlichen  Bildung"  (II  174).  This  is  also  the  means 
which  the  new  democratic  newspaper,  in  contrast  with  Leo-Las- 
salle's  policies,  characterizes  as  the  best  and  only  way  which  can 
lead  to  the  social  uplift  of  the  working  classes.  A  practical 
demonstration  is  given  by  an  association  of  tailors  for  co-opera- 
tive manufacturing  on  a  large  scale  (II  322)  which,  as  they  say, 
succeeds  in  spite  of  all  tricks  employed  by  their  opponents 
(II  393).  We  have  here  again  an  exposition  of  Schulze-Delitz- 
sch's  work  to  keep  alive  by  co-operative  societies  the  small  ar- 
tisan without  capital.  But  the  preservation  of  this  class  does 
not  touch  the  labor  question  proper  which,  Lassalle  finds,  con- 
cerns chiefly  the  industrial  workmen  because  he  sees  that  the 
victory  of  the  large  manufacturer  over  the  artisan  is  completed.^ 
Other  Liberals,  it  is  true,  concede  that  even  if  an  industrious 
workman  with  his  family  can,  under  ordinary  circumstances, 


1  Oncken.  1.  c.  p.  382-83 ;  cp.  above  p.  53. 


138 

get  along,  the  establishment  of  associations  for  the  support  of 
widows,  the  sick,  and  other  purposes  is  imperative  in  case  of  un- 
expected and  extraordinary  needs  (II  182;  cp.  I  184), 

The  social-political  opposition  of  the  Liberals  to  the  means 
proposed  by  Leo  leads  to  a  newspaper  war  (II  1).  This  plainly 
reflects  the  feud,  prepared  by  Lassalle's  pamphlet  "Macht  und 
Recht, ' '  with  its  declaration  of  war  on  the  Progressionist  party,^ 
which  broke  out  between  them  after  he  had  sent  his  Open  Letter. 
A  summary  of  this  he  gives  with  his  defense  against  the  Pro- 
gressionist attacks  in  his  Leipzig  speech  of  April  13,  1863.* 
Not  only  do  the  formidable  accusations  which  Lassalle  hurls  at 
the  bourgeoisie  find  an  echo  in  the  judgment  of  the  Liberals  on 
Leo's  want  of  a  just  estimate  of  the  practical  conditions,  on  his 
experimenting  with  socialistic  systems,  the  common  dangers  of 
which  to  their  minds  have  frequently  been  proved  (I  350),  but 
their  hostile  newspaper  articles  and  personal  attacks  (I  539; 
544;  II  3-4)  are  apparently  modelled  on  the  attitude  of  the 
Progressionists  towards  Lassalle.  The  Liberal  papers  condemn 
Leo's  undertaking  as  bearing  the  stamp  of  its  author.  He  has 
flaunted  too  often  his  diploma  in  their  faces  to  be  surprised  if 
they  examine  the  same  a  little  more  carefully  and  ask  who  he 
was  and  who  he  is  now  (II  323).  And  Leo,  after  using  soft 
strokes  of  the  lash,  will  answer  now  with  a  scourge  of  scorpions 
for  their  attacks  on  him  as  the  protector  of  the  workmen 
(II  324).  So  the  fury  of  the  Progressionists  against  Lassalle 
was  without  bounds.  They  replied,  most  unanimously  and 
sharply  in  Berlin  where  Schulze-Delitzsch  held  the  sway,  that 
Lassalle  knew  nothing  of  economics.^  They  strove  to  strike  him 
down  with  malicious  aspersions,  e.  g.  that  he  was  an  instrument 
hired  by  Reaction,*  a  renegade,^  and  the  spiteful  utterances  of 
their  press  on  the  unheard  of  procedure  of  Lassalle  elicited  an- 
swers from  him  which  were  in  many  cases  nothing  but  insulting 
lampoons.®  The  last  speech  held  by  Leo  in  his  union,  and  the 
tumult  that  breaks  up  the  meeting  also  causes  the  Liberal  press 
to  voice  its  hostility  in  a  way  that  reminds  us  of  a  case  in  Las- 


1  Cp.  above  p.  129  and  Freigeboren,  286-87. 

2  Zur  Arbeiterfrage  :  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  290-94. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  285-86. 

4  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  285. 

5  Znr  Arbeiterfrage,  p.  2. 
e  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  116. 


139 

galle  's  life.  When  the  meeting  at  Solingen  in  1863  —  which 
also  with  its  accompanying  circumstances  seems  to  have  been 
the  model  for  Leo's  last  gathering  of  his  friends  in  the  capital 
(I  545)^ — in  which  he  was  to  speak,  was  dissolved  by  the  police 
by  order  of  the  Progressionist  mayor,  thousands  of  workmen  ac- 
companied Lassalle  to  the  railroad  station  where  he  telegraphed 
the  occurrence  to  Bismarck.  The  Liberal  press  of  the  Rhinelands 
represented  this  affair  as  if  the  Gensdarmerie  had  been  obliged 
to  protect  Lassalle  by  means  of  the  bayonet  against  the  people, 
who,  hurling  imprecations,  rushed  at  him.-  Likewise  Leo's  ar- 
rest and  the  tumult  broken  out  at  the  meeting  of  his  union  are 
characterized  in  the  Liberal  press  as  a  perfectly  natural  re- 
action of  the  respectable  workmen  against  the  inflammatory 
agitation  of  the  party  of  Leo,  who  alone  was  responsible  for  the 
necessary  interference  by  the  police,  since  the  whole  agitation 
had  sprung  from  sordid  motives  (II  44).^ 

This  speech,  by  the  way,  contains  some  thoughts  of  Lassalle 
other  than  those  which  remind  of  the  Arbeiterprogramm.*  Leo 
will  take  proofs  from  science, 'from  the  teaching  of  that  which 
is  (I  548).    This  is  the  logical  and  real  basis  of  Lassalle 's  whole 

t 

agitation,  the  unveiling,  the  destruction  of  Pretence,  as  the 
idealistic  types  in  DvH  fight  against  Pretence,  for  the  keeping  up 
of  which,  in  the  novel,  all  possible  misdeeds  are  committed.  The 
mightiest  political  means  is  to  Lassalle 's  mind,  the  voicing  of 
that  which  is.  Napoleon  I  did  so  before,  and  Bismarck  after 
him.^  Lassalle  employs  it  especially  in  the  last  advice  he  gives 
the  Progressionists,  in  his  speech  "Was  nun?"  of  1862.®  To 
brand  before  all  the  world  Prussian  Constitutionalism  as  a  pre- 
tence and  to  refuse  any  transaction  with  the  Government,  i.  e. 
to  voice  that  which  is,  is  the  sole  means  which  can  make  the  Gov- 
ernment yield  and  become  genuinely  constitutional.  It  does  not 
matter  that  in  this  respect  he  is  only  the  political  tactician  aim- 
ing to  discredit  the  Liberals  with  their  electors  by  showing  a 
way  which  they  should,  but  do  not  dare,  to  take,  for  he  did  not 
care  for  a  capitulation  of  the  Government  to  the  Progression- 


1  Cp.  the  young  workman  with  whom  Lassalle  was  on  terms   of  greater   inti- 
macy, mentioned  above  p.  70,  and  the  behavior  of  the  police. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  127,  note  3. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  3S8. 
*  Cp.  above  p.l34. 

5  Brandes.  1.  c.  p.  107. 
«Cp.  above  p.  128. 


140 

ists  because  such  a  compromise  could  not  advance  his  plans  to 
create  a  radical  socialistic  workmen's  party. ^  It  must  be  stated, 
however,  that  Lassalle's  political  maxim  is  followed  by  Leo  dur- 
ing his  whole  activity. 

Lassalle's  Open  Letter  must  needs  elicit  the  attacks  of  the 
Progressionists.  Their  politicians  and  economists  saw  at  once 
what  was  at  stake.  They  wanted  to  keep  the  leadership  of  the 
workmen  in  their  hands.  In  their  contest  with  the  Government 
they  had  played  off  the  ' '  People ' '  in  its  compact  mass  with  com- 
mon interests  and  ideals.-  Through  the  assertion  of  Lassalle 
that  their  party  had  been  found  completely  wanting  in  the 
labor  question,  their  position  was  perceptibly  weakened.  In 
writing  his  Open  Letter  Lassalle  showed  practically  only  that  he 
had  left  the  range  of  Marx's  ideas,  which  had  so  effectively 
fructified  his,  and  in  recommending  co-operative  productive  so- 
cieties with  State-help,  could  not  but  try  to  realize  them  with 
the  aid  of  the  State  as  it  was  —  as  in  1859,  solely  by  judging 
from  the  viewpoint  of  the  German  revolution  he  was  led  to  ad- 
vocate a  Prussian  policy  of  conquest.^  If  in  writing  this  letter 
he  had  not  thought  directly  of  the  royal  power  the  Progression- 
ists, through  their  attacks  and  violent  hostility,  now  compelled 
him  to  do  so.*  The  Democrat  and  the  Government  met  as  though 
for  the  same  cause  in  a  contest  with  a  common  opponent.  The 
bitter  war  which  all  organs  of  the  bourgeoisie  waged  against 
Lassalle,  induced  the  Reactionary  to  take  the  part  of  an  agita- 
tion, which,  in  its  origin,  was  purely  democratic. 


Lassalle's  Open  Letter  to  the  Leipzig  committee  resulted  in 
the  founding  of  the  General  German  Workingmen's  Union,  May 
23,  1863.  "The  Jew  from  Breslau  became  the  captain  on  the 
bridge,  and  at  the  top  of  the  ship  waved  the  social  democratic 
flag. ' '  The  Constitution  of  the  Union,  however,  was  by  no 
means  democratic;  it  was  organized  as  essentially  monarchical, 
an  instrument  in  the  hand  of  the  dictator,  Lassalle.     In  his 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  243-44  ;  241-42. 

2  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  50. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  276. 

4  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  332. 


141 

practical  agitation  he  had  become  aware  of  the  necessity  of 
making  this  dictatorship  a  principle  within  the  Union,  in  view 
of  the  vigorous  endeavors  of  Marx  to  prevent  the  young  labor 
movement  from  being  dominated  by  his  disciple.  It  was  now 
necessary  for  Lassalle  to  measure  coolly  the  existing  factors  of 
power  in  the  State,  as  Leo  does  (I  341),  and  to  bring  his  own 
forces  into  a  right  relation  to  them.^  He  could  no  longer  main- 
tain a  simple  oppositional  attitude  in  his  present  responsible 
position  if  he  wanted  to  realize  the  dreams  of  his  youth,  ex- 
pressed in  his  diary.  The  half-utopian  theories  of  socialism 
yielded  to  the  impulse  to  act.  The  program  of  his  Open  Letter 
shows  him  as  the  democratic  politician  striving  for  the  posses- 
sion of  power.  The  acquisition  of  political  liberty  for  the  work- 
men who,  after  1848,  through  reactionary  legislation  had  be- 
come practically  disfranchised,  meant  democracy.  The  demo- 
cratic politician  turned  to  the  political  leaders  of  the  State  or 
sought  to  enter  into  connection  with  influential  men.  Leo  does 
the  same,  and  the  Liberals  have  ground  to  reproach  him  who 
worships  the  "idea",  with  cultivating  this  or  that  person  whose 
aid  may  be  needed  in  realizing  his  ideals  (II  170;  275).  H. 
Mielke,'-^  therefore,  should  not  have  criticized  the  novelist  for 
having  represented  Leo's  rise  to  power  as  too  dependent  on  the 
influence  or  help  of  others.  Spielhagen  shows  here  again  his 
thorough  information  concerning  Lassalle.  Lassalle,  disap- 
pointed by  the  progress  of  his  labor  agitation,  must  needs  turn 
to  the  man  who  alone  could  make  possible  for  him  the  position  for 
which  he  and  Leo,  too,  were  striving.  And  this  position  was  at 
that  time  wholly  dependent  on  Bismarck,  the  embodiment  of  the 
idea  of  the  Frederician  State. 

But  before  Lassalle  showed  openly  that  he  expected  help 
from  the  Premier,  both  had  been  tactical  allies  for  quite  a  while. 
The  great  statesman,  since  taking  the  helm  of  the  State  in  Sept., 
1862,  had  made  unparliamentary  excursions  on  Right  and  Might, 
the  power  of  the  crown  and  parliament,  on  blood  and  iron, 
which  very  much  agreed  with  the  sentiments  of  Lassalle  in  his 
"  Sikkingen "."  When  the  king  adjourned  the  House,  Oct.  13, 
1862,  the  contest  for  Right  which  was  really  a  contest  for  Might, 


1  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  60-61. 

2  Hielke.  1.  c.  p.  258. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  263  ;  130 ;  cf .  above  p.  80. 


■■^ 


142 

had  begun.  Bismarck  made  the  conflict  acute,  for  it  furthered 
his  aim  to  remain  at  the  helm  and  bring,  in  the  meanwhile,  the 
policy  of  conquest  of  the  great  independent  power  of  Prussia  to 
a  successful  end.  He  frustrated  all  possible  compromises  to 
keep  the  moderate  Liberals  away  from  leadership.  Lassalle,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  fostered  the  conflict  to  bring  about  a  revolu- 
tion in  order  to  secure  victory  for  the  democracy  of  1848.  Both 
use  the  same  arguments  in  spite  of  their  diametrically  opposed 
aims;  against  the  Liberals,  armed  with  the  paragraphs  of  the 
Constitution,  they  appeal  to  Might:  Bismarck  to  the  crown  and 
army,  Lassalle  to  the  masses  of  the  fourth  estate.^  The  latter, 
in  his  speech  "Was  nun?"  had  already  given  Bismarck  the 
credit  of  being  an  expert  in  Constitutional  matters,^  as  he,  too, 
he  said,  knew  that  the  Constitution  of  a  country  consists  in  the 
actual  conditions  of  power.  Soon  he  was  to  learn  that  in  the 
new  Premier,  who  was  leading  foreign  affairs  realistically  and 
with  fixity  of  purpose,  a  stronger  will  manifested  itself  and 
drew  every  effort  of  others  in  its  own  current.  Lassalle  exper- 
ienced the  power  of  the  magnet  on  himself  ere  long.  Bismarck 
became  the  fate  of  his  further  development.'^  The  two  strongest 
vital  powers  of  Prussian-German  politics  of  the  century  had 
met. 

Lassalle  had  started  as  a  radical  democrat  to  urge  the  Pro- 
gressionist party  to  the  most  vigorous  action  against  the  Gov- 
ernment, as  Leo  had  done,  but  he  had  found  so  much  hostility 
with  them  that  the  opponents  he  encountered  on  his  way  made 
him  lose  sight  of  the  common  enemy,  nor  disdain  the  alliance  of 
the  Government  in  order  to  first  annihilate  the  Progressionists. 
The  reproach,  however,  which  the  latter  addressed  to  him  that 
the  last  period  of  his  life  was  only  Caesarism  covered  with  the 
sugar  of  socialism,  as  Leo 's  standing  on  the  side  of  the  State  may 
appear  to  his  Liberal  opponents  (I  454),  is  unfounded.  He 
kept  his  own  political  and  social  aims  always  in  mind,  and 
preserved,  in  spite  of  Bismarck,  his  personal  independence  and 
liberty  of  resolution,  just  as  Leo  at  the  time  when  he  tries  to 
form  a  Cabinet  plans  a  revolution  and  a  fight  to  the  knife,  if  he 
king  does  not  do  his  bidding  (II  506).    Yet  there  is  no  denying 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  329,  cp.  above  p.  140. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  115. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  327. 


143 

the  fact,  that  Lassalle,  for  the  sake  of  his  socialistic  democratic 
aims,  had  deviated  far  from  his  starting  point;  the  heat  of  the 
contest  and  the  impression  of  Bismarck  contributed  their  share, 
above  all  his  overwise  calculation,  the  dialectical  trait  in  his 
tactics  urged  him  on.  His  whole  political  development  had  of 
necessity  to  take  a  different  turn.  For  himself  the  Democrat  de- 
manded the  "dictatorship  of  intelligence",  the  unconditional 
domination  over  the  workmen  in  order  to  press  on  the  Prussian 
Government;  at  the  same  time,  however,  he  expected  only  from 
its  decisions  the  impulse  to  gather  about  his  flag  the  masses  who 
so  far  had  failed  to  appear.  The  revolutionist,  like  Leo,  had  set 
his  calculations  on  the  revolution  through  the  Government 
(II  136;  487),  and  on  events  which  were  really  to  take  place  in 
1866.  Like  Sikkingen  in  his  drama,  he  believed  himself  to  be 
able  to  attain  revolutionary  aims  through  diplomatic  means. 
They  had  become  his  only  means.  In  the  face  of  these  tactics 
all  social  aims  had  for  the  moment  receded.^ 

The  more  the  democratic  politician  set  his  hopes  on  the 
daring  leadership  of  the  Prussian  State,  the  more  he  became 
dependent  on  it  as  soon  as  Bismarck,  since  the  opening  of  the 
Schleswig-Holstein  Question,  brought  matters  to  a  move.^  When 
a  general  convention  of  the  Representatives  of  the  lower  Houses 
in  Frankfurt  o/M,  entered  into  a  severe  judgment  of  Bismarck's 
political  attitude  towards  Austria,  Lassalle  wrote,  treating 
this,  his  "Die  Feste,  die  Presse  und  der  Frankfurter  Abgeord- 
netentag"^  which  has  been  characterized  as  a  pitiless  censure  of 
the  Progressionists  and  a  declaration  of  love  addressed  to  Bis- 
marck.^ When  he  delivered  this  spo^ch  at  Solingen,  Sept.  27, 
1863,  the  meeting  was  closed  by  the  police,  and  Lassalle  sent  the 
telegram  to  Bismarck,  of  which  mention  has  been  made.*  As  a 
politician  of  quick  decision  lie  made  use  of  this  police  interfer- 
ence to  execute  a  plan  long  considered.  The  passage  in  which  he 
says  that  he,  with  difficulty,  restrained  the  people,  5000  strong, 
from  violent  acts  against  the  police  proves  that  he  wanted  to 
show  the  Premier  the  movement  of  the  masses  as  a  copnter- 
weight  to  the  Progressionists'  opposition  in  order  to  force  the 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  412-13. 
3  Cp.  above  p.  115. 

3  Oncken.  1.  c.  p.  333. 

4  Cp.  p.  139. 


144 

Grovernment  to  give  attention  to  his  ideas.  It  had  become  pub- 
lie  that  Bismarck  had  handed  in  to  the  king  a  report  signed  by 
the  whole  Cabinet  in  favor  of  a  true  national  representation  re- 
sulting from  a  direct  participation  of  the  whole  people,  Sept. 
15,  1863.  Lassalle  saw  that  the  Government  would  turn  to  his 
aims.  He  sent  the  telegram  on  Sept.  27,  in  order  to  bring  about 
at  once  the  approachment  of  the  two  antipodes  who,  for  some 
time  now,  had  been  allies  because  of  attacks  by  the  same  ad- 
versary, and  the  strife  for  power,  and  were  now  meeting  because 
of  an  identical  point  of  political  program.^  He  could  hope  that 
Bismarck  would  take  into  his  hands  the  furtherance  of  the  po- 
litical and  social  aims  of  the  young  labor  movement,  and  there- 
by deal  the  death  blow  to  the  Liberal  parties.  Bismarck  de- 
clared in  the  Reichstag,  Sept.  1878,  that  he  put  no  difficulties  in 
Lassalle 's  way  when  the  latter  had  an  urgent  desire  to  come 
into  relations  with  him.  For,  although  he  had,  no  doubt,  rela- 
tively little  interest  in  negotiating  with  an  agitator  who  had  as 
yet  no  palpable  power  at  his  disposal,  Lassalle  had  done  things 
which  found  favor  with  the  Government,  and  there  was  some- 
thing in  him  which  attracted  Bismarck  and  his  party. 

The  social  agitation  which  Lassalle  had  in  mind  as  a  supple- 
ment of  his  political,  was  by  no  means  unfavorably  regarded  by 
the  Conservatives  and  the  Premier  of  the  king  of  Prussia.  The 
provision  for  the  workmen  had  excited  the  interest  of  many 
Conservatives.  Some  had  already  entered  into  correspondence 
with  Lassalle.  Furthermore,  Bismarck,  although  he  directly 
knew  little  of  Hegel,^  and  Lassalle  had  practically  the  same  con- 
ception of  State.  In  Bismarck  the  conception  of  the  Frederician 
State  was  operative  as  a  practical,  original  force,  nor  did  the 
tendencies  of  men  like  Schulze-Delitzsch,  who  would  have  pre- 
ferred to  dissolve  the  political-social  life  into  spheres  of  free 
unions,  naturally  find  sympathy  with  him.^  With  Lassalle  the 
Hegelian  conception  of  State  remained  always  one  of  his  strong 
ethical  thoughts,*  which  never  suffered  by  the  competition  of 
opposed  ideas,  and  the  emphasis  he  lays  on  this  idea  of  State  in 
his  Programm  of  1862,  elicited  as  early  as  that  the  question 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  339. 

2  Cp.  Freigeboren,  p.  292. 
8  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  330. 

4  Cp.  Lassalle's  praise  of  the  idea  of  State  in  his  "Die  indirekte  Steuer  uad  die 
Lage  der  arbeitenden  Klassen,"  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  370,  cp.  above  p.  73. 


145 

whether  he  would  not  experiment  with  the  concrete  Prussian 
State  in  the  solution  of  such  problems,  as,  to  his  mind,  were  the 
purpose  of  the  State.  His  speeches  on  Constitutional  Matters 
and  "Was  nun?"  of  1862,  too,  had  found  a  certain  measure  of 
applause  with  the  Conservatives,  and  his  attacks  on  the  Liberals 
because  of  their  attitude  towards  the  German  Question,  on  the 
economical  authorities  of  the  Progressionist  party,  on  manu- 
facturers like  Reichenheim,  who  also  were  Bismarck's  oppo- 
nents, were  of  a  character  to  be  welcomed  by  the  Government. 

To  some  extent  Lassalle's  new  workmen  movement,  there- 
fore, must  appear  to  an  unscrupulous  minister  as  a  desirable  al- 
liance. At  the  end  of  Oct.,  1863,  Lassalle's  personal  intercourse 
with  Bismarck  began  and  continued  for  several  months,  but 
even  after  the  estrangement  caused  through  his  own  fault,  Las- 
salle  sent  the  Chancellor  his  speeches  to  his  last  days.^  In  contrast 
with  Leo,  Lassalle's  discussions  with  the  representative  of  the 
crown  bore  on  universal  and  direct  suffrage  and  co-operative 
societies  with  State-help.  Principally,  however,  the  intention  of 
the  Democrat  was  to  influence  the  Government  by  the  whole 
weight  of  his  eloquence  to  force  universal  suffrage  upon  the 
people.  While  the  Progressionists  believed  that  the  existing 
electoral  franchise  needed  no  extension  —  even  strict  democrats 
and  workmen  like  Bebel  were  opposed  to  universal  suffrage  — 
Bismarck  saw  in  it  a  weapon  against  the  opposition  wherein  he 
was  supported  by  the  Kreuzzeitungs-party.^  Indeed,  the  Con- 
servative party  contained  daily  growing  groups  who  saw  in  such 
a  suffrage  the  only  way  out  of  the  existing  political  misery.* 
There  was,  of  course,  a  difference  in  the  aims  of  these  parties 
when  they  thought  of  this  suffrage.  Bismarck  was  thinking  of 
it  as  a  means  for  German  unification  against  the  particularism 
of  dynasties  and  tribes,  and  only  in  a  secondary  place  was  it  to 
serve  him  to  put  the  loyal  masses  into  the  balance  against  the 
oppositional  imperious  bourgeoisie.  But  Lassalle  wanted  to 
emancipate  by  it  and  under  his  leadership  the  workmen  politi- 
cally and  socially  from  the  Liberals,  in  order  to  bring  about  a 
democracy  rooted  in  the  working  classes.* 


1  Oncken.  1.  c.  p.  331 ;  341 ;  351. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  267. 

8  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  66  ;  70  ;  78. 
*  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  346. 


146 

Yet  his  interviews  with  the  Premier  had  a  decisive  influence 
on  his  whole  agitation.  The  kind  of  alliance  with  the  Conserva- 
tives which  had  the  attainment  of  the  main  point  of  his  program 
for  its  end  was  drawing  him  more  and  more  to  the  side  of  the 
leading  Conservative  forces  of  the  State.  It  was  a  matter  of 
course  that,  as  long  as  he  expected  the  Government  to  act  in  ac- 
cordance with  his  aims  to  have  universal  suffrage  established,  he 
should  avoid  in  the  political  course  of  his  Arbeiterverein  any 
opposition  to  the  Government.  He  supports  Bismarck  in  his 
foreign  policies,  puts  no  obstacle  in  his  way  in  the  Polish  Ques- 
tion where  his  decided  democratic  feeling  ought  to  have  spoken 
in  the  interest  of  Polish  nationality,  and  opposes  in  agreement 
with  his  former  convictions^  the  Liberals  who  champion  the 
claim  of  the  Prince  of  Augustenburg  in  the  Schleswig-Holstein 
conflict,  while  he,  in  his  desire  to  have  Germany  united,  speaks 
for  the  annexation  of  the  two  provinces.  During  the  last  months 
of  his  life  he  continues,  not  from  free  will,  but  because  of  the 
slow  progress  of  his  agitation,  his  tactics  which  practically  iden- 
tify him  with  the  Prussian  Government.  He  hopes  for  a  war 
with  Austria  and  the  resulting  proclamation  of  universal  suf- 
frage as  the  necessary  and  fortunate  turn  for  his  agitation.  His 
"Hochverratsprozess"  of  March  12,  1864,  however  strongly  the 
speech  is  intended  to  influence  the  judges,  shows  the  Democrat 
to  be  on  the  side  of  the  Prussian  monarchy.  There  is  much 
which  speaks  for  the  possibility  that  Lassalle,  if  he  had  lived  to 
see  the  events  of  1866  and  1870-71,  would  have  intimately  joined 
Bismarck  in  politics  as  did  his  friend,  Lotliar  Bucher,  who, 
as  a  member  of  the  Berlin  National  Assembly  of  1848,  had  agi- 
tated for  the  refusal  to  pay  taxes.  Brandes  (p.  172)  and  Harms 
(p.  72)  believe  so,  and  Spielhagen  in  Freigeboren  (p.  298) 
agrees  with  them.^ 

Though,  perhaps,  Lassalle  did  not  know  that  by  his  agitation 
for  universal  suffrage  he  smoothed  the  way  for  a  social  empire 
he  pleaded  in  his  speech  of  March,  1864,  for  a  social  (Prussian) 
monarchy.  This  form  of  State  had  at  the  time  of  the  Prussian 
Conflict,  shown  its  undiminished  power  and  strength,  and  he  had 
learned  thereby  that  monarchy  in  Germany  was  to  be  counted 


1  Cp.  above  p.  74. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  83  ;  74. 


147 

on  for  a  long  time  to  come.  It  was  not  impossible  for  him  to 
come  to  terms  with  it,  and  even  take  up  the  cudgel  for  it,  as  the 
promoter  of  the  emancipation  of  the  fourth  estate.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  Feb.,  1864,  he  sent  Bismarck  two  copies  of  his  "Herr 
Bastiat-Schulze,  etc.,"  with  a  note  in  which  he  said  it  would 
be  very  useful  for  the  king  to  read  some  parts  of  it,  that  he 
might  see  which  monarchy  had  still  a  future  and  who  were  its 
friends  and  who  its  enemies  (reflected,  as  we  shall  presently  see 
in  Leo's  interview  with  the  king).  That  Lassalle  thought  of  the 
possibility  of  fighting  in  the  interest  of  the  monarchy  is  proved 
by  an  utterance  from  the  last  year  of  his  life:  "Das  aber, 
Freunde,  versprecht  mir,  wenn  es  zu  einem  Kampfe  kommen 
sollte  zwischen  dem  Konigtum  von  Gottes  Gnaden  auf  der  einen 
und  dieser  elenden  Bourgeoisie  auf  der  anderen  Seite,  schwort 
mir,  dass  Ihr  auf  seiten  des  Konigtums  stehen  werdet  gegen  die 
Bourgeoisie."^ 

It  has  been  shown  above  that  Leo  in  his  endeavor  to  secure 
power  as  the  means  for  the  attainment  of  his  aims,  develops  into 
the  champion  of  monarchy.  He  arrives  at  it  by  a  way  which,  in 
spite  of  the  epic  dress,  is  the  same  that  led  Lassalle. 

That  speech  of  March,  1864,  the  "  Hochverratsprozess ",  in 
which  the  latter  confesses  that  the  monarchy  of  the  HohenzoUern 
represents  still  an  actual  force  of  life,  as  Leo  believes  (II  137), 
and  pleads  for  a  social  Prussian  monarchy,  is  the  basis  on  which 
Leo's  interview  with  the  king  is  built  (II  136-37).  There  are 
tliree  parties  in  the  State ;  the  Government  with  the  Conserva- 
tive parties,  the  Liberal  bourgeoisie  or  Progressionists,  and  the 
real  democratic  party  which  Lassalle  says  he  has  the  honor  to 
lead.  The  Government  party  has  drawn  nearer  to  him  because, 
in  the  contest  with  the  Liberals  and  with  threatening  foreign 
complications,  it  has  to  look  about  for  the  people. 

"Ein  nicht  beizulegender,  ein  totlicher  Kampf,  exclaims  Las- 
salle, hat  sich  erhoben  zwischen  dem  Konigtum  und  der  Bour- 
geoisie: Wer  von  beiden  weicht,  ist  verloren  ...  In  diesem 
Kampfe  ohne  Ausweg  hat  meine  Stimme  den  einzig  moglichen 
Ausweg  eroffnet,  der  iiberhaupt  denkbar  war,  .  .  .  das  Volk 
selbst  auf  die  Biihne  zu  fiihren  und  sein  Recht  herzustellen", 
and  Leo  tries,  with  the  aid  of  Lassallean  terms  —  as  Might  and 


1  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  9» ;  75. 


148 

Right  are  identical  in  Natural  Science,  so  are  they  in  the  State 
which  is  only  a  piece  of  Nature  (II  131) — to  convince  the 
king  that  majesty  must  lean  on  the  workmen,  if  the  Right,  i.  e. 
Might  which  still  dwells  with  majesty  is  not  to  change  into 
wrong,  i.  e.  impotency.  An  intelligent  king  can  bring  about  an 
amalgamation  of  the  principle  of  annointed  monarchy  with  the 
unannointed  multitude  by  making  the  basis  sufficiently  broad 
(II  132).  "Das  Konigtum,  says  Lassalle,  wenn  es  einer  Clique 
nicht  weichen  kann,  (can)  dagegen  wohl  das  Volk  auf  die 
Biihne  rufen  und  sich  auf  es  stiitzen  .  .  .  Es  braucht  sich 
hierzu  nur  bewusst  zu  werden,  welches  die  Saule  ist,  auf  der  es 
steht.  Das  Volk,  nicht  die  Bourgeoisie,  zahlt  seine  Steuern ! 
Das  Volk,  nicht  die  Bourgeoisie,  schlagt  seine  Schlachten!  Es 
braucht  sich  hierzu  endlich  nur  seines  Ursprunges  zu  erinnern, 
denn  alles  Konigtum  ist  urspriinglich  Volkskonigtum  gewesen". 
Leo  will,  if  he  can,  make  the  king  a  peasant  or  workmen's  king 
in  whom  the  miserable  have  the  confidence  that  he  will  rescue 
them  from  their  misery.  The  bourgeoisie  on  whom  Louis- 
Philippe  intended  to  rely,  have  neither  this  belief  or  any  moral 
emotion,  nor  any  great  thought.  They  have  paid  for  their 
wealth,  their  comfort  with  their  moral  and  intellectual  bank- 
ruptcy. But  the  poor  and  miserable,  this  fallow  land  full  of 
immeasurable  strength  because  of  being  fertilized  by  the  sweat 
and  blood  of  centuries,  have  still  the  belief  in  a  power  which, 
surpassing  that  of  individuals,  supports  and  holds  the  whole, 
and  in  a  wisdom  which  always  has  in  mind  and  realizes  the  com- 
mon welfare  (II  134).  There  is  still  piety  and  faith  such  as 
the  king  demands  of  his  subjects.  For  otherwise  the  deputation 
would  not  have  left,  perhaps,  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives, 
their  native  valley  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  their  king,  who  the}' 
are  convinced  will  rescue  them  from  their  misery.  Lassalle,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  exclaimed:  "  .  .  ein  louis-philippistisches 
Konigtum  von  der  Schopfung  der  Bourgeoisie,  konnte  dies 
freilich  nicht  (to  lead  the  people  on  the  scene  and  re-establish 
their  rights).  Aber  ein  Konigtum,  das  noch  aus  seinem  ur- 
spriinglichen  Teig  geknetet  dasteht,  auf  den  Knauf  seines 
Schwertes  gestiitzt,  konnte  das  vollkommen  wohl,  wenn  es 
entschlossen  ist,  wahrhaft  grosse,  nationale  und  volksgemasse 
Ziele  zu  verf  olgen. ' ' 


149 

These  great  national  and  popular  aims  are  with  Leo,  as  with 
Lassalle,  the  emancipation  of  the  fourth  estate  with  the  aid  of 
the  monarchy.  For  a  monarchy  can,  unconcerned  by  economic 
interests,  grant  the  social  demands  of  the  proletariat,  the  bour- 
geoisie never;  and  in  Lassallean  sense  it  is  without  doubt  that 
the  working  class  in  their  fight  for  emancipation  can  more  easily 
win  the  kings  than  the  bourgeois. 

Leo  sets  about  to  win  the  king  by  such  ai^uments  as  follow. 
The  ruler  believes  that  constitutional  government  cannot  satisfy 
the  deep  and  pressing  needs  of  the  people  but  that  concessions 
must  be  made  to  the  money-proud  shopkeepers,  and  constitu- 
tional government  is  demanded  by  the  evil  spirit  of  the  times 
which  does  not  believe  in  a  natural  order  of  social  classes.  Leo 
tries  to  convince  him  that  the  power  of  capital  takes  from 
tlie  modern  slave  all  possibility  of  exercising  clublaw,  because 
the  power  of  money  stands  under  the  protection  of  the  law 
which  assures  the  manufacturers  the  safe  possession  of  their 
robbery  and  allows  them  compound  interest  on  the  capital 
created  by  the  sweat  and  blood  of  poverty,  and  that,  therefore, 
the  right  (or  the  might  as  Leo  expresses  himself  with  Lassallean 
terms)  of  the  purse-proud  shopkeepers  can  be  broken  only  by 
the  natural  protector  of  the  poor  and  wretched  (II  135-37). 
Lassalle  had  learned  that  a  republic  nowise  guaranteed  the 
State,  he  had  in  mind,  and  his  experiences  with  the  Progression- 
ists must  have  shown  him  what  the  people  had  to  expect  if  the 
bourgeois  republic  was  realized;  it  must  have  seemed  to  him 
more  desirable  that  a  power  should  stand  at  the  head  of  the 
State  which,  in  its  independence,  might  give  attention  to  the 
interest  of  the  whole  people,  the  clearer  it  became  to  him  that 
the  modern  industrial-capitalistic  development  must  lead  to  a 
money  aristocracy.  So  also  Leo  says  that  only  the  royal  power 
as  the  summary  and  the  personification  of  the  totality  can 
balance  the  individual  classes  of  the  nation  so  that  none  can 
live  at  the  expense  of,  or  draw  a  pitiless  profit  from,  the  other 
(II  137).^ 


1  Cp.  above  p.  78 ;  Hanns,  1.  c.  p.  9. 


150 


Under  the  romantic  language  (II  164)  with  which  Leo  at- 
tempts to  win  the  king  for  his  plans  we  have  found  thoughts 
which  spring  from  Lassalle,  as  his  position  by  the  side  of  the  king 
is  the  romantic  representation  of  the  historical  democrat  leaning 
towards  monarchy.  But  Spielhagen  says  nothing  of  the  State  or 
the  royal  power  being  asked  or  expected  to  grant  the  means  which 
Lassalle  declares  the  only  sufficient  one  to  guarantee  the  social 
betterment  of  the  working  class  and  proletariat.  Lassalle  had 
exclaimed :  "  Of  two  things  one  has  to  be  selected,  either  pure  ab- 
solutism or  universal  suffrage.  An  absolutist  monarch  can  do 
everything  for  the  people.  But  in  a  constitutional  State  the 
power  rests  with  the  well-to-do  classes,  i.  e.,  in  the  hands  of  the 
minority,  which  is  an  injustice."^  Since  the  beginning  of  his  agi- 
tation the  establishment  of  universal  suffrage  was  his  goal.  In 
April,  1863,  he  wrote,  "Without  universal  suffrage,  i,  e.,  a  prac- 
tical instrument  to  realize  our  demands  we  can  be  a  philosophic 
school  or  religious  sect,  but  never  a  political  party.  Therefore, 
it  seems  to  me  that  universal  suffrage  belongs  to  our  social  aims 
as  necessarily  as  the  handle  to  the  axe."-  Just  the  speech  on 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  Leo's  interview  with  the  king  is  to  a 
large  measure  based,  has  to  do  with  Lassalle 's  demand  for,  and 
prophesy  of,  universal  suffrage,^  and  even  in  subordinate  steps 
he  thinks  always  in  the  first  place  of  its  establishment.* 

In  comparison  with  it  the  recommendation  of  co-operative  so- 
cieties for  the  purpose  of  manufacture  with  the  financial  aid  of 
the  State  holds  a  rather  secondary  position.  He  has  never  pre- 
tended to  be  able  to  solve  the  social  problems,  or  contended  that 
such  societies  could  answer  the  social  questions  -^  he  says  not  one 
word  of  it  in  his  Open  Letter.  He  is  far  from  seeing  his  last  aims 
in  such  societies.  He  was  a  consistent  socialist  in  so  far  as  he  con- 
sidered the  association  of  all  means  of  production  the  goal  for 
which  his  party  should  strive,  but  he  thought  of  the  co-operative 
societies  as  a  means  which  could  be  realized  within  the  existing 


1  Die  indirekte  Steuer,  etc. ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  368. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  303 ;  Cp.  Ansprache  an  die  Arbeiter  Berlins,  Oct.,   1863. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  402 ;  cp.  above  p.  115. 

4  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  403 ;  cp.  p.  390. 

5  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  89  ;  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  145. 


151 

political  and  social  order  as  the  first  step  on  the  road  on  which,  in 
his  firm  belief,  the  future  would  and  must  proceed.^ 

Evidently  Spielhagen  did  not  introduce  universal  suffrage  into 
the  novel  because  he  stood  on  the  side  of  the  Progressionists  who, 
as  has  been  pointed  out^,  were  opposed  to  it.  And  from  this  Pro- 
gressionist standpoint,  as  a  champion  of  self-help,  he  makes  Leo 
try  a  socialistic  experiment,  because  of  Lassalle's  proposition  of 
co-operative  societies,  in  order  to  give  a  warning  example  of  an 
enterprise  opposed  to  the  principles  of  the  Manchester  school. 

His  description  of  the  failure  of  such  an  experiment,  however, 
is  apparently  based  on  an  experiment  —  of  Bismarck.  We  have 
spoken  of  the  deputation  of  weavers  who  had  an  audience  with 
King  William  and  for  this  reason  lost  their  work  in  the  mills 
cwned  by  Reichenheim.''  Bismarck,  who  still  in  1878  held  the 
productive  co-operative  societies  of  Lassalle  and  his  100  million 
thaler  project  as  a  matter  worthy  of  discussion,  of  course,  in  a 
monarchical  sense*,  caused  the  king  to  give,  out  of  his  private 
purse,  to  these  weavers  a  sum  of  6000  —  7000  thalers^  for  an  ex- 
perimental foundation  of  a  co-operative  association.  A  trial  on 
such  a  small  scale  was  bound  to  result  in  a  failure,  the  more  so 
as  Bismarck's  whole  attention  was  held  by  the  events  of  foreign 
policy  since  1864,  and  the  legislative  measures  which  the  depu- 
tation were  promised  by  the  king  were  not  taken." 

As  this  experiment,  so  Leo's  does  not  follow  the  safe-guards 
Lassalle  proposed  in  his  Frankfurt  speech  of  May  17,  1863.  The 
latter  had  asked  for  State-help  in  order  to  thereby  give  the  work- 
men the  chance  to  help  themselves  earnestly  through  a  \dgorous 
initiative  of  their  own.  State-help  is  not  opposed  to  self-help,  but 
rather  gives  the  possibility  of  self-help,  as  he  says  in  his  address 
to  the  workmen  of  Berlin."  He  was  thinking  of  co-operative  so- 
cieties which  were  all  to  be  enclosed  by  a  credit  association,  and 
of  an  insurance  society  which  was  to  embrace  all  societies  of  the 
same  trade  and  thus  make  any  eventual  loss  almost  impercept- 
ible ;  not  to  speak  of  other  advantages  as  the  decrease  of  the  risk 
of  capital,  exclusion  of  competition,  prevention  of  overproduc- 
tion, saving  of  expenses  and  increase  of  production. 


1  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  146 ;  144 ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  272. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  145. 

3  Cp.  above  p.  103  ;  105. 

3  Cp.  above  p.  104 ;  106. 

4  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  350. 

5  Cp.  IRuG  II  515. 

6  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  351 ;  405. 

7  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  3  44;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  390. 


152 

There  are  uo  parallels  in  Leo's  enterprise  to  all  these  measures 
and  necessary  precautions  which  Lassalle  had  in  mind  to  estab- 
lish without  risk  and  with  a  measure  of  certain  success  his  co- 
operative societies;  it  does  not  matter  here  whether  or  not  his 
calculations  were  right.  Leo's  socialistic  experiment  is  an  evi- 
dently intended,  but,  in  its  execution,  rather  vague  demonstra- 
tion of,  and  a  plea  for,  the  effectiveness  of  the  Progressionist  as- 
sociations founded  on  self-help.  In  these  the  workmen  did  not 
take  the  initiative,  in  contrast  with  those  proposed  by  Lassalle, 
and  also  with  the  English  workmen's  unions  which  the  Progress- 
ionists thought  they  were  imitating.  Their  position  was,  rather, 
regulated  by  the  Progressionist  leaders  because  they  wanted  no 
State-help  granted  by  the  Government  that  might  strengthen 
the  conservative  party,  nor  any  State-help  obtained  through 
struggle  or  defiance  by  the  workmen,  as  they  detested  the  demo- 
cratic self-reliance  which  was  needed  for  obtaining  such  help.^ 
Leo's  enterprise  is  not  in  agreement  with  the  social  theories  of 
the  Liberals,  so  it  must  fail.  There  is  no  authority,  no  business 
ability,  but  distrust  by  all  of  all  (II  390;  501-02).  It  was  an 
evil  thought  to  leave  to  themselves  people  who  are  incapable  of 
self-government  (II  568).  It  fails  because  tlie  workmen  in  Leo's 
mills  act  counter  to  the  "Heilige  Ordnung"  (II  317-18;  620). 
While  thus  his  experiment  would  have  found  no  approval  with 
Lassalle,  Spielhagen  has,  no  doubt,  introduced  it  into  the  novel 
on  account  of  the  economic  plans  of  the  socialistic  democrat. 

More  in  accord  with  historj-  has  the  novelist  treated  the  atti- 
tude of  the  great  democrat  in  respect  to  the  question  of  how  Prus- 
sia should  act  during  the  war  of  Austria  with  Italy  and  France 
in  1859. 

Reference  was  made  to  this  war  to  throw  light  on  the  position 
of  Miinzer  and  Lassalle  towards  the  ideas  of  liberty  and  German 
unity .^  Lassalle  had  written  his  pamphlet  on  the  Italian  war  as 
a  kind  of  patriotic  democrat  who  raised  his  voice  against  Prus- 
sia's giving  up  neutrality,  because  in  the  first  place,  true  dem- 
ocracy could  not  without  treachery  trample  upon  the  principle 
of  free  nationalities  by  favoring  a  war  with  Napoleon.  The  lat- 
ter was  fighting  in  Italy  for  a  nation's  liberty,  if  only  for  the 
purpose  of  strengthening  his  tyranny  at  home,  while  Austria, 


1  p.  A.  Lange,  1.  c.  p.  361. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  74. 


153 

which  they  wished  to  defend  because  of  its  being  German  land, 
implied  a  firm  and  consistent  reactionary  principle.  And  in  the 
second  place,  the  defeat  of  Austria  must  needs  lead  to  German 
unity. 

While  none  of  these  reasons  which  Lassalle  opposed  vigorously 
to  the  general  passionate  cry  of  Conservatives  and  Liberals  alike, 
to  mobilize  and  take  actively  the  side  of  the  kindred  people,  can 
be  found  in  IRuG,  the  novelist  nevertheless  here  again  shows  his 
thorough  information  on  the  socialistic  democrat  and  his  plans. 
For  he  has  rightly  read  between  Lassalle 's  lines.  As  the  latter 
shows  every  proposition  of  his  to  be  the  consequence  of  demo- 
cratic ideas,  he  works  for  an  empire  established  by  the  Prussian 
sword  on  a  democratic  basis.  His  correspondence  with  Marx 
makes  liis  purpose  clearer.  He  is  opposed  to  a  war  with  France 
because  a  Prussian  victory  would  be  a  counter-revolutionary 
event  par  excellence.  He  will  depopularize  such  a  war  which 
would  have  re-enforced  the  bonds  between  monarchy  and  people, 
by  showing  to  the  Prussian  Government  a  highly  national  and 
popular  way  which  he  was  sure  it  would  not  take,  and  will  lead 
the  instinct  of  the  masses  in  his  own  paths.^  His  pamphlet  is 
only  a  link  in  the  democratic  chain  of  revolutionary  thoughts 
wliich  he,  even  after  the  Italian  war,  continues  by  putting  on 
other  foreign  events  his  hopes  for  the  realization  of  a  social 
change  in  Germany.^ 

These  "unterirdische  Argumente,"  or  concealed  arguments, 
apparently  furnish  the  basis  for  Leo's  attitude  to  the  war  which 
has  broken  out  in  the  south.  It  has  for  him  importance  only  in 
so  far  as  it  may  promote  his  own  ends.  If  the  country  should  be- 
come involved  in  the  war  the  subsequent  general  misery  will  help 
his  social  efforts  for  the  proletariat  (II  380).  He  is  a  physician 
for  the  sick.  Up  to  now  the  stupidity  of  the  patient  has  been  an 
obstacle  because  he  is  unwilling  to  believe  in  his  sickness,  as  Las- 
salle on  May  17,  1863,  exclaims:  "Ihr  deutschen  Arbeiter  seid 
merkwiirdige  Leute !  Euch  .  .  .  muss  man  vorher  erst  noch  be- 
weisen,  dass  Ihr  in  einer  traurigen  Lage  seid.  Das  kommt  aber 
von  Eurer  verdammten  Bediirfnislosigkeit.  "^  Nevertheless,  in 
pointing  out  in  opposition  to  the  wild  cry  of  the  princely  party 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  155  ;  142. 
a  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  150. 

-j  Arboiterlesebuch  ;  Oncken,  I.  c.  p.  311-312. 


154 

the  political  and  economic  impossibility  of  carrying  on  a  war  — 
at  least  if  they  intend  to  mobilize  with  the  ordinary  means 
(II  465)  — Leo  is  not  led  by  such  patriotic  reasons  as  Lassalle's, 
but  by  the  desire  to  widen  the  breach  between  the  crown  and  the 
bellicose  party  of  the  prince,  in  order  to  compel  the  king  to  ac- 
cede to  his  social  plans.  He  endeavors  to  convince  him  that  a  war, 
whether  successful  or  not,  will  be  fatal.  For,  in  the  first  case, 
the  king  will  have  to  fear  the  prince,  who  would  find  his  position 
beside  the  throne  too  humble  (II  484)  ;  in  the  second,  the  people 
who  would  hold  the  king  responsible  for  any  ill-success  (II  485). 
But  peace  and  freedom  from  care  will  be  the  lot  of  the  king  if  he 
makes  peace  with  his  own  people  by  abolishing  slavery,  i.  e.,  by 
destroying  the  proletariat  in  the  free  State  of  the  future,  which 
by  the  king's  command  will  be  at  once  changed  into  the  present. 
Only  thus  can  he  avoid  seeing  his  ally  make  peace  with  his  op- 
ponents and  try  to  take  from  Germany  what  he  must  give  up 
in  another  place.  Leo's  advice  is  the  only  way  to  prevent  any 
participation  in  the  war  and  to  give  the  nation  which  stands  up 
for  its  greatest  and  holiest  ideals  the  firm  belief  that  under  such 
conditions  it  has  not  to  fear  a  war  with  a  world  in  arms  (II  487) . 
The  novelist  thus  puts  Leo's  efforts  for  the  social  betterment 
of  the  proletariat  rightlj^  in  relation  with  the  Italian  war,  in 
which  the  desultory  reader  of  Lassalle's  pamphlet  may  see  the 
only  occasion  this  democrat  took  to  voice  publicly  his  opinion  on 
a  matter  of  essentially  foreign  policy  as  G.  Brandes  does.^ 

8. 

The  (Italian)  war  takes  place  about  nine  years  after  Leo's 
flight  during  the  revolution,  and  his  political  activity  comes  to 
an  end  when  the  news  of  peace  has  just  arrived  at  the  capital 
(II  599).  Spielhagen  consequently  puts  those  democratic 
thoughts  which  he  has  gathered  from  Lassalle's  pamphlet  near 
the  end  of  Leo's  career,  while  historically  they  mark  the  begin- 
ning of  Lassalle's  turning  to  become  a  realistic  politician  free 
from  his  former  dreams  of  revolutionary  republicanism.  Chron- 
ological, on  the  other  hand,  is  Leo's  appeal  to  the  church  for  sup- 
port during  the  time  immediately  preceding  his  fall  and  death. 


1  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  81. 


155 

So  Lassalle,  the  socialistic  democrat,  who  started  with  the  intent 
to  drive  the  Progressionists  into  the  most  energetic  fight  with 
the  Government,  and  then  was  pleased  from  tactical  reasons  with 
the  semi-connivance  of  the  Conservatives,  leaned  himself,  during 
the  last  three  months  of  his  life,  on  the  untrustworthy  support  of 
a  Catholic  bishop.^ 

But  here  the  novelist  has  given  the  church  a  far  greater  im- 
portance than  it  had  with  Ijassalle,  and  as  a  result  a  more  de- 
tailed description  of  Leo's  negotiations  with  its  representative, 
which  are  not  borne  out  by  the  history  of  his  model.  We  have 
seen-  that  Lassalle  drew  the  Conservative  organs  to  his  side  when 
he  incurred  the  bitter  and  reckless  hostility  of  the  Progression- 
ists in  his  fight  for  universal  suffrage.  The  good  terms  on  which 
he  apparently  stood  with  the  Conservatives,  gave  cause  for  the 
assertions  of  his  opponents  that  he  now  stood  in  the  service  of  Be- 
action;  they  did  everything  to  separate  him  from  his  adherers 
among  the  working  classes.  Besides  being  the  war-object  of  the 
Progressionists,  he  was  also  the  eternal  prize  of  the  State's  attor- 
neys,'^  even  at  a  time  when  he  had  his  interviews  with  Bismarck. 
At  war  with  numerous  adversaries,  and  an  unscrupulous  poli- 
tician who  would  make  use  of  anything  which  might  appear  as  a 
success  of  his  agitation  to  show  the  Premier  that  he  was  an  ally 
with  power  behind  him  to  impose  universal  suffrage,  prudence 
advised  him  to  grasp  the  hand  held  out,  and  not  to  refuse  the 
strong  support  of  the  Catholic  church.  He  found  here  the  same 
desire  to  strengthen  the  political  power  of  the  lower  classes. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  consequences  of  universal  suf- 
frage, which  logically  must  lead  to  leaving  the  last  decision  in 
political  matters  in  the  hands  of  the  greatest  number  of  the  un- 
educated, especially  in  districts  where  the  Catholic  clergy  rule, 
it  was  quite  natural  that  Lassalle,  in  his  exasperate  contest,  took 
his  allies  from  whatever  source  he  could.  Leo  does  the  same 
(II  327).  It  may  be  open  to  question  whether  Spielhagen  was 
thinking  of  Lassalle 's  relation  to  Helene  von  Donniges,  which  was 
to  be  his  death,  when  he  made  Leo  follow  the  advice  of  his  friends 
to  take  such  a  wife  as  might  put  the  cloak  of  her  old  nobility 
about  his  low  descent.    At  least  the  political  selfishness  of  Leo  in 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  408  ;  418. 

2  Cp.  above  p.  140. 

3  Harms,  1.  c.  p.  76  ;  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  156. 


156 

entering  into  such  a  project  differs  from  the  lack  of  diplomacy 
and  from  the  passion  which  Lassalle  showed  by  allowing  himself 
to  be  carried  away  in  his  love  affair.  But  it  is  evident  that  Las- 
salle's  acceptance  of  an  alliance  with  the  Catholic  church,  if  it 
can  be  called  such,  in  the  last  stage  of  irritation  over  the  oppo- 
sition which  he  finds  and  the  ill  success  of  his  efforts  to  prevail 
on  Bismarck  in  respect  to  the  introduction  of  the  universal  and 
direct  suffrage,  induced  Spielhagen  to  make  Leo  seek  the  help  of 
the  church  as  the  other  prop  on  which  to  lean. 

At  the  first  annivei"sary  of  the  foundation  of  the  General  Ger- 
man Workingmen's  Union,  Lassalle  was  compelled  to  show  to 
the  workmen  how  successful  their  agitation  had  been,  and  to 
Bismarck  that  a  power  capable  of  giving  him  support  had  arisen, 
and  he  who  had  once  declared,  speaking  out  that  which  is  to  be 
the  first  and  mightiest  means  to  attain  political  ends,  must  at- 
tempt to  get  the  best  effects  he  could  by  unrealities..^  He  could 
speak  of  a  support  by  the  Catholic  church  only  in  so  far  as  the 
bishop  of  Mayence,  Baron  von  Kettler,  whom  Brandes  calls  the 
champion  of  obscurantism  and  anti-educationalism  and  who  later 
was  to  defend  the  Syllabus,  had,  after  years  of  learned  investiga- 
tions of  social  matters,  pronounced  in  his  book,  "Die  Arbeiter- 
frage  und  das  Christentum, "  his  agreement  with  every  point  in 
Lassalle 's  economic  tenets  in  opposition  to  the  Progressionists.* 
Spielhagen  here  differs  essentially  in  his  narration. 

The  representative  of  the  church  comes  in  due  time,  when 
Leo,  from  an  impulse  of  his  own  and  on  advice  of  his  friends, 
looks  for  allies  —  thus  fulfilling  the  prediction  made  in  the  be- 
ginning of  Leo's  political  activity  by  the  novelist's  Liberal 
spokesman  that  the  latter  after  having  learned  the  un- 
changeable weight  of  existing  conditions  would,  in  his  despair, 
grasp  after  anything  which  had  the  appearance  of  aiding  him  in 
his  impotence ;  a  perfect  reflection  of  Lassalle 's  last  political  days 
(I  386).  But  the  help  Leo  seeks  for  carrying  out  his  reforms 
cannot  be  had  except  in  an  ecclesiastical  sense,  i.  e.,  by  the 
spreading  of  ecclesiastical  slavery  in  a  pietistic  form.  The  liberty 
which  he  will  procure  is  a  liberty  which  frees  but  the  bodies  and 
cannot  be  successful  unless  it  bring  also  the  liberty  of  the  spirit. 

1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  405-06. 

2  Ronsdorfer  Rede ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  408.  This  Catholic  bishop  must  help  Imb- 
sale  still  at  his  last  trial  at  Dusseldorf  June  27,  1864,  ia  his  attempt  to  ia- 
fluence  the  Catholic  judges ;  Oncken,  p.  418. 


157 

This  is  nowhere  possible  except  under  the  soft  yoke,  of  the  church, 
which  grants  the  only  imaginable  liberty,  i.  e.,  equality  before 
God  (II  332).  Besides,  this  is  the  only  liberty  that  can  win  the 
romantic  mind  of  the  king  for  the  reforms  which  Leo  seeks  to  ac- 
complish. Lassalle,  on  the  other  hand,  had  nothing  to  do  with 
any  religious  aspect  of  the  church.  But  his  being  compelled  by 
adverse  political  conditions  to  grasp  the  hand  of  the  clergy  has 
rightly  found  expression  with  Spielhagen  in  his  representation 
of  Leo,  who,  by  force  of  circumstance,  with  inner  repugnance 
and  disgust  hardly  overcome,  makes  common  cause  with  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  church.^  In  regard  to  Leo's  social  program 
the  church  is  going  to  help  him  only  if  he  make  great  conces- 
sions to  it  and  to  capital.  He  struggles  to  refuse  this  (II  507-09). 
His  fall  and  death  prevent  him  from  subscribing  to  such  a  pro- 
gram. 


German  literature  includes  many  novels  which  deal  with  his- 
torical persons ;  we  know  of  none,  in  the  composition  of  which  the 
author  has  so  amply,  for  agitatorial  purposes,  drawn  from  the  life 
and  works  of  a  great  man  as  in  DvH,  and,  in  a  still  larger  meas- 
ure, in  IRuG. 

In  comparing  the  political  lives  of  Miinzer  and  Leo  with  that 
of  Lassalle  we  see  how  well  informed  Spielhagen  was  concerning 
the  latter^,  and  we  conclude  that  the  discrepancies  which  we  find 
are  intentional.  The  assthetic  and  poetical  principles  of  the 
novelist  have  caused  some  changes.^  Others  are  due  to  the  fact 
that  he  did  not  assume  the  office  of  the  historian.  Thus  we  hear 
nothing  of  the  Prussian  Conflict  which  led  to  the  birth  of  the  Pro- 
gressionist party*,  and  gave  Lassalle  the  occasion  for  which  he 
had  been  waiting,  to  re-enter  the  political  arena  and  start  his 
labor  movement.^  Nor  does  Spielhagen  mention  the  question  of 
universal  suffrage®.  Indeed,  Leo's  political  struggle  does  not  oc- 
cupy a  place  in  the  novel  commensurate  with  the  importance  of 
Lassalle 's  contest  with  the  Progressionists.^    And  just  the  omis- 


1  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  156. 

2  Cp.  e.  g.  above  p.  11  ft ;  95. 
s  Cp.  e.  g.  above  p.  14  ;  115-6. 

4  Above  p.  112. 

5  Above  p.  113. 
«  Above  p.  136. 
7  Above  p.  129. 


158 

sion  of  Lassalle's  demand  for  universal  suffrage  explains  to  us 
the  motives  which  caused  the  majority  of  the  discrepancies  which \ 
exist  between  history  and  novels.  The  Democrat's  conversations 
with  the  man  who  represented  the  monarchical  State  bore  on  this 
franchise/  But  not  even  in  Leo's  interview  with  the  king,  based 
on  that  speech  in  which  Lassalle  prophesied  the  establishment  of 
universal  suffrage,  does  Spielhagen  make  mention  of  this  fran- 
chise which,  as  goal  and  means,  is  the  sine  qua  non  for  the  social- 
ist's agitation.-  Lassalle  is  nothing  politically  if  not  the  cham- 
pion of  universal  suffrage. "'  That  Spielhagen  does  not  treat  this 
question  must  be  attributed  to  his  Progressionist  leanings,  as  the 
Progressionists  believed  that  the  existing  franchise  needed  no 
extension*  and  were  in  fact  opposed  to  the  grant  of  universal 
suffrage.  From  a  Progressionist  standpoint  the  novelist  gives 
also  in  Leo's  socialistic  experiment  an  example  of  an  enterprise 
in  disagreement  with  Liberal  principles.^  The  purpose  is  evi- 
dent. He  is  politically  a  champion  of  the  Progressionists  and 
wants  to  write  ' '  Tendenzromane. ' '"  He  is  opposed  to  a  Hegelian 
State  and  advocates  self -education.'  He  places  the  ideals  of  the 
Liberals  in  the  brightest  light,  represents  them  as  altruistic, 
while  he  depicts  the  ruling  classes  as  the  embodiment  of  all  evils, 
as  inferior  in  moral  and  intellectual  qualities."*  But  in  his  char- 
acterization of  the  Liberals  he  gives  no  complete  historical  pic- 
ture of  the  opponents  of  Lassalle  and  Bismarck,  and  omits  the 
weak  sides  of  Liberalism.  On  the  other  hand,  he  has,  in  his  party- 
political  prejudice  overdrawn  Reaction,  for  this  Reaction  was 
working  for  the  solution  of  the  German  Question.^ 

But  the  pronounced  political  purpose^"  of  his  novels  is,  not- 
withstanding his  Progressionist  leanings,  pre-eminently  an  ethical 
one."  He  was  in  sympathy  with  the  Progressionists  because  he 
had  more  in  common  with  them  than  with  other  parties.  But  he 
was  no  strict  partisan  of  theirs.  He  was  more  interested  in  the 
ethical  side  of  Liberalism.    While  wishing  to  give  in  his  "Zeitro- 


1  Above  p.   145.  , 

2  Above  p.  150. 

3  Above  p.  76. 

4  Above  p.  145  ;  151. 

5  Above  p.  151. 

6  Above  p.  15. 

7  Above  p.  72-73  ;  81 ;  52 ;  136-7. 

8  Above  p.  43-4  ;  53  ;  117. 

9  Above  p.   115;   112;   11& ;   113. 

10  Above  p.  6. 

11  Above  p.  131. 


159 

mane"  an  artistic  form  to  his  comprehension  of  the  ideas  which 
animated  his  time,  he  meant  also  to  fight  for  his  own  ideals.^  He 
believed  that  the  external  power  of  a  nation  has  never  guaranteed 
the  duration  of  its  sovereign  authority,  nor  even  its  bare  exist- 
ence, but  that  the  real  invincible  strength  of  a  nation  rests  in  its 
humanity,  which  is  equivalent  to  the  moral  spirit  governing  it.- 
His  political  ideals,  therefore,  mean  ethical  aims.  His  love  of 
fatherland,  libertj^,  truth  and  the  beautiful  compel  him  to  seek, 
above  all  things,  to  elevate  the  minds  of  the  German  people  to 
the  purer  heights  of  true  humanity.  It  is  in  this  direction  that 
he  wishes  to  influence  his  time,  and  to  this  ethical  purpose  he 
makes  the  actual  facts  of  Lassalle's  political  life  subservient. 
Even  in  his  last  novel,  Freigeboren,  he  desires  to  teach  us  to 
bring  all  our  forces  to  the  highest  possible  development.^  And 
in  DvH  and  IRuG  Spielhagen's  spokesmen  are  the  champions  of 
this  high  ethical  idealism.  Politics  means  to  them  ethics.  There- 
fore, the  intellectual  and  moral  qualities  of  the  parties  at  war  in 
our  novels  are  fully  illustrated,  and  all  political  and  social  mat- 
ters discussed  from  an  ethical  standpoint.*  Spielhagen  was  con- 
vinced that  social  problems  depend  on,  and  find  their  causes,  ex- 
planation and  solution  in  the  character  of  man.®  It  is  from  this 
viewpoint  that  the  novelist  in  DvH  and  IRuG  has  drawn  pictures 
of  the  Prussian-German  world  as  he  believed  it  to  be  during  the 
middle  of  the  past  century.  They  have  turned  out  to  be  also  fit- 
ting illustrations  of  his  poetic  principles.**  The  actors  have  been 
characterized  bj^  their  words  and  actions,  and  given  full  life  by 
being  drawn  after  persons  whom  the  novelist  knew  intimately. 
It  was  a  matter  of  course  that  the  principal  leader  of  the  social- 
istic movement  in  these  novels  should  have  been  modelled  after 
Lassalle,  who  was  its  foremost  representative  in  history,  as  far 
as  Germany  was  concerned,  and  whose  personality  had  always 
been  an  interesting  study  to  Spielhagen.  In  view  of  the  novel- 
ist's  ethical-political  aims,  it  cannot  surprise  that  the  character 
of  Lassalle  had  a  greater  attraction  for  him  than  his  political 
activity. 


1  Above  p.  7. 

2  Spielhagen,  Am  Wege  p.  91. 

3  Above  p.  9. 

4  Above  p.  118  ;  129  ;  123. 

5  Cp.  IRuG  I  184 :  Henning.  1.  c.  p.  115. 

6  Above  p.  7  ff. 


160 

In  Ms  autobiography  he  has  credited  the  great  Democrat  with 
having  made  himself  a  name  in  the  history  of  the  world,  but  he 
has  also  found  fault  with  the  moral  traits  of  his  character/  He 
has  emphasized  these  also  in  *  *  Freigeboren. " 

Here  Lassalle  is  characterized  as  a  man  of  genius.  He  acts 
with  an  almost  infallible  self-possession^  is  quick  at  repartee  in 
dialectics,  excels  in  speaking  extempore,  and  provokes  and  de- 
rides the  public  prosecutor  at  his  trial  at  Berlin,  Jan.  16,  1863. 
However,  he  shows  himself  as  a  man  without  taste.^  In  his  mania 
for  bragging  and  his  arrogant  vanity  he  appears  in  full  dress  be- 
fore the  judge  and  is,  like  an  actor,  conscious  of  acting  his  part 
well.*  Fourteen  years  before  this  S(pielhagen)  had  believed  in 
the  honesty  of  the  defendant ;  he  was  too  young  to  verify  at  the 
trial  of  August,  1848,  that  Lassalle  was  a  "phraseur"  and  "po- 
seur. ' '  But  now  he  is  ready  to  take  oath  that  the  latter  has  these 
qualities  in  a  high  degree ;  that  he  is  no  longer  concerned  about 
the  justness  of  his  cause,  but  that  he  thinks  only  of  his  person 
and  is  working  for  effect  (p.  295  f).  Sprung  from  a  race  which, 
endowed  with  the  greatest  intellectual  gifts,  had  been  fettered 
for  centuries,  Lassalle  does  not  know  what  to  do  with  his  share 
of  this  long  stored  up  mental  power,  now  that  thy  fetters  have 
fallen  (p.  298-9).  He  parades  coquettishly  his  intellectual  super- 
iority before  the  unlucky  prosecutor.  A  true  gentleman  could 
and  would  not  have  done  so.  Lassalle  should  have  been  conscious 
of  standing  before  the  judge,  as  the  representative  of  all  man- 
kind, or  at  least  of  its  majority,  the  poor  and  wretched.  But  his 
conduct  lacks  the  necessary  dignity.  There  is  a  discord  in  his 
nature.^  He  is  the  prophet  who  intends  to  lead  mankind  to  free- 
dom, and  the  Don  Giovanni  who  is  the  slave  of  his  inordinate  de- 
sires. He  is  a  mixture  of  greatness  and  eommonplaceness,  of 
high  thoughts  and  low  desires,  in  one  human  soul.  Devoured  by 
vanity  and  selfishness,  he  has  undertaken  to  solve  a  problem,  for 
the  approximate  solution  of  which  a  noble-minded  self-denial  is 
the  sine  qua  non  (p.  314).  But  savant,  thinker,  apostle  and  agi- 
tator that  he  is,  he  seeks  also  to  be  the  hero  in  lovp  affairs.  The 
heroine  of  "  Freigeboren, "  who  has  often  heard  him  spoken  of 


1  Above  p.  7. 

2  Cp.  Leo  II  132  ;  121. 

3  Cp.  Spielbagen's  utterance,  quoted  i>7  Brandos,  p.  94. 

*  Cp.  "Lassalle  showed  himself  brave  like  a  hero  and  vain  like  an  actor  at  bis 

trials."     Oncken,  p.  400.     Cp.  also  p.  21 ;  116 ;  421 ;  432. 
B  Above  p.   33. 


•'it 


161 

as  a  libertine  and  devotee  of  women  (291),  no  longer  believes  in 
his  filial  love  for  the  countess  (Hatzfeldt),  nor  in  his  disinterest- 
edness jn  herself,  after  he  has  assured  her  of  his  friendship  with 
a  fire  which,  she  is  convinced,  had  been  kindled  with  a  less  pure 
torch  (295).  This  discord  in  Lassalle's  nature  was  brought  to 
light  especially  by  his  inglorious  end.  An  unlucky  accident 
struck  in  a  rough  and  rude  manner  the  burden  from  his  shoul- 
ders which  he  would  have  been  obliged  to  drop  ere  long  (314). 

We  have  here  an  almost  complete  agreement  between  Spielha- 
gen  and  the  biographers  of  Lassalle,  especially  Oncken.^  We 
find  those  causes  related  which  must  needs  lead  to  a  personal 
failure  of  the  great  Democrat,  if  not  of  the  socialistic  movement 
which  he  started.  Oncken  remarks  that  there  has  been  hardly  ^ 
any  career  like  Lassalle's,  in  which  the  purely  personal  and  acci-' 
dental  has  led  the  progress  of  his  positive  efforts  from  their 
course,  and  in  which  unrestrained  passions  have  crossed  a  mo- 
mentous and  great  cause.  For  Lassalle  sunk  forever  all  the  am- 
bition which  had  le3  him  in  the  realms  of  politics  and  learning 
during  his  whole  life,  into  his  sudden  passion  for  Helene  von 
Donniges,  and  thus  forgot  completely  the  cause  for  which  he,  the 
leader  of  a  movement  of  such  great  consequence  to  Germany,  had 
staked  his  heart's  blood  during  his  last  years.^  And  Brandes 
writes  about  Lassalle's  inglorious  end:  "Das  Unreine,  das  Pro- 
blematische  in  dem  Charakter  Lassalles,  welches  bewirkte,  dass 
er,  wie  sehr  er  sonst  aus  einem  Guss  war,  doch  nicht  ganz  in 
seiner  Sache  und  seiner  Idee  aufging,  das  war  es,  was  ihn  zu- 
grunde  richtete  .  .  .  aus  alien  seinen  grossen  Gaben  erwuchs 
nur  eine  unvoUstandige  personliche  Durchbildung.  "^ 

Upon  these  moral  shortcomings  of  Lassalle,  Spielhageh  has  en- 
larged in  DvH  and  IRuG,  and  from  his  ethical  views  on  the  so- 
cial problems  as  depending  on  the  character  of  man,  these  novels 
must  be  judged.*  The  author  sees  the  two  principles  of  egoism 
and  idealism  (altruism)  in  a  contest  for  supremacy.^  He  per- 
sonifies them  in  his  conservative-reactionary  types  and  his  pro- 
gressive-idealistic types."  At  first  Miinzer  and  Leo  take  part  in 
this  contest  on  the  side  of  the  latter,  but  soon  they  pursue  their 

1  Cp.  above  p.  9  ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  376-7. 

2  Oncken,  p.  431;  434. 

3  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  171. 

4  Above  p.  159. 

siRuG  II  399-400.  ; 

'5Abo\e  p.  40-40;  51-52;  117. 


162 

own  ends  in  politics.  In  doing  so,  they  are  not  faithful  in  their 
duties  toward  the  "Idea,"  which  they  wish  to  realize.  Instead 
of  concentrating  their  whole  minds  on  it,  they  are  led  astray  by 
passions  which  lie  outside  the  "Idea."  They  prove  to  be  lack- 
ing in  that  moral  worth  with  which  men  must  be  equipped  who 
undertake  the  difficult  task  of  bringing  nearer  the  solution  of 
the  social  questions.  Despite  their  splendid  talents  and  ideal- 
istic efforts,  they  cannot  succeed  and  must  in  gloriously  go  to  ruin. 
As  for  DvH,  Lassalle's  unfortunate  infatuation  for  Helene 
von  Donniges  with  its  sad  issue,  cannot  have  furnished  Spielha- 
gen  with  material  for  depicting  Munzer's  love  affair,  his  result- 
ing failure  in  his  political  work  and  his  death  at  the  hand  of  a 
rival.  But  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  novelist  should  have 
drawn  from  the  character  of  Miinzer-Lassalle  as  early  as  1862-3 
a  conclusion  which,  in  August,  1864,  was  to  become  an  historical 
fact,  and  this  in  its  turn  was  to  serve  the  novelist  as  the  founda- 
tion for  his  critical  remarks  on  the  inglorious  end  of  the  social- 
istic Democrat,  as  the  logical  result  of  the  latter 's  character,  just 
cited  from  ' '  Freigeboren. ' '  The  lack  of  moral  worth  for  accom- 
plishing great  plans  such  as  Lassalle  conceived,  is  found  by  Spiel- 
hagen  rather  in  the  democrat 's  relations  with  the  Countess  Sophie 
von  Hatzfeldt,  for  which  also  the  choice  of  the  name  of  Antonie 
would  speak.^  These  relations  were  a  public  secret,  and  were 
criticized  by  his  Progressionist  opponents,  as  are  those  of  Miin- 
zer's  with  Antonie.  But  whatever  the  intimacy  which  resulted 
from  Lassalle's  becoming  the  attorney  of  the  countess  from  mo- 
tives doubtlessly  ideal,^  these  relations  had  hardly  anything  to 
do  with  his  untimely  end  or  with  his  failure  to  reach  practical 
results  in  politics,  while  such  is  the  case  with  Miinzer.  It  is  much 
more  the  fact  that  the  social  sphere,  which  he  entered  as  the 
friend  of  a  woman  belonging  to  the  highest  aristocracy,  had  for 
the  champion  of  the  working  people  such  great  attractions  which 
is  for  the  novelist  a  demonstration  of  the  weakness  in  Lassalle's 
character.  And,  indeed,  the  social  intercourse  with  the  countess 
gave  food  to  Lassalle 's  vanity.    His  whole  predisposition  for  aris- 

1  Above  p.  13.  Lassalle's  famous  love  letter,  written  to  the  beautiful  Russian 
Sophie  Sontzeft  whom  he  met  in  Aachen  In  the  summer  of  1860  (cp.  Onckea 
I.  c.  p.  188)  is  a  veritable  document  showing  the  foolishness  of  which  the 
great  Democrat  was  capable  in  love  affairs.  Spielhagen  has  made  use  of  some 
thoughts,  contained  in  this  letter,  cp.  above  p.  47 ;  105.  It  seems  as  If  some 
material  has  been  taken  from  this  source  to  ascribe  to  Miinzer  traits  of  char- 
acter, unfit  for  his  great  work. 

2  Above  p.  29. 


163 

tocratic  living  met  this  vanity  which  developed  more  and  more 
while  he  was  fighting  against  the  power  of  rank  and  aristocracy* 
and  showed  a  discrepancy  in  principle  and  action  which,  from 
the  ethical  viewpoint  of  Spielhagen,  rightfully  must  be  consid- 
ered a  moral  defect. 

But  the  novelist  has  magnified  this  discrepancy  in  Miinzer  by 
placing  him  in  a  conflict  between  his  duties  toward  wife  and  chil- 
dren, and  political  aims  on  the  one  hand,  and  his  passion  for  a 
woman  of  high  aristocracy  on  the  other,  in  order  to  show  that 
only  a  morally  spotless  champion  of  the  people  can  hope  to  be 
successful  in  his  political  task.  For  such  a  conflict  in  a  char- 
acter like  Miinzer 's  must  end  badly  for  himself  and  also  have  the 
strongest  influence  on  the  success  of  his  public  activity. 

Miinzer  is,  like  Lassalle^,  an  idealist,  but  he  is  of  a  more  roman- 
tic nature.  He  is  a  poet  (297)  — Lassalle  composed  even  in  his 
youth  no  lyric  poem'  —  a  dreamer  whose  real  home  is  the  won- 
derland of  Romantic  (152;  159),  an^  "who  cannot  live  without 
his  dreams  (465-6).  Anything  of  a  fairy  nature  is  apt  to  en- 
snare, as  with  magic  threads,  his  mind,  which  longs  passionately 
for  the  extraordinary  (161).  An  ardent  Faustean  desire  fills 
him  (156)  like  Lassalle*,  and  his  soul  is  easily  intoxicated,  to  the 
state  of  ecstacy,  with  whatever  is  great  and  beautiful  (652).  His 
passionate  heart  is  continually  at  war  with  his  better  thoughts 
and  conscience  (267;  395). 

The  "Idea,"  too,  which  leads  Miinzer^,  has  a  romantic  color. 
He  has  found  that  men  as  the  sons  of  Titans,  who,  after  a  vain 
attempt  to  share  the  blessed  life  of  the  Gods  on  Olympos,  mar- 
ried in  their  disappointment  daughters  of  the  earth:  Sorrow, 
Want,  Sickness,  have  still  a  suspicion  of  this  blessed  life  which 
we  call  love,  but  which  we,  no  more  than  our  Titan  fathers,  can 
find.  There  is  only  a  small  amount  of  happiness  for  mankind  to 
share,  and  each  of  us  can  have  his  modest  portion  but  by  con- 
tenting himself  nor  asking  more  than  he  willingly  gives  to  his 
fellow-men.  This  discernment,  which  can  demonstrate  itself  by 
deeds  of  humility  and  resignation,  is  called  justice  by  Miinzer. 
If  he  cannot  love  his  fellow-men,  he  can  at  least  be  just  (165). 

1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  46 ;  also  p.  20. 

2  Oncken.  1.  c.  p.  100. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  115.     Cp.  above  p.  16,  note  2. 
*  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  192. 

••  Above  p.  32  ;   71. 


164 

This  idea  of  justice  he  has  not  only  endeavored  to  implant  in 
the  minds  of  his  pupils  (44),  but  he  will  realize  here  on  earth  by 
working  for  the  freedom  of  his  people  politically,  without  expect- 
ing material  reward  (273),  or  being  hampered  by  interest  in 
friends  and  by  domestic  happiness  (276-7;  151).  Deliberate 
(28;  298)  and  inflexible  (479)  in  his  political  activity,  he  fails 
because  of  his  deceiving  the  "Idea"^  and  for  the  weightier  reason 
that  in  the  struggle  of  his  idea  of  justice  with  his  passionate 
heart  (325)  and  his  aristocratic,  romantic  nature  (317;  310-1; 
501-2)  he  proves  to  be  an  erratic  character. 

He  has  married,  without  love,  what  he  believed  to  be  a  simple, 
insignificant  girl,  in  order  to  have  no  advantage  over  other  men 
(169).  His  heart,  however,  claims  its  rights.  But  instead  of 
making  its  warmth  eradiate  into  the  heart  of  his  wife  and  stir- 
ring the  flame  of  his  domestic  hearth  by  the  fire  in  his  bosom 
(652),  he  finds  no  satisfaction  in  the  crushing  narrowness  of  a 
sober  middle-class  abode  (159)  since  he  has  met  a  member  of  that 
social  class  against  which  he  has  started  his  fight,  that  woman 
who  is  the  realization  of  his  phantastic  dreams  and  worthy  of 
him  (156  ;  159  ;  161).  An  aristocrat  in  thought  and  feeling  (652), 
he  falls  in  love  with  her  because  she,  an  aristocrat  by  birth  and 
character,  is  in  every  way  the  opposite  of  his  gentle,  modest  and 
peaceful  wife,  whose  charms,  a  good  character  and  intellectual 
gifts  of  talents,  he  has  been  unable  to  discover  and  to  appreciate. 
For  he  was  born  to  live  in  a  sphere  which  lies  far  above  an  ordin- 
ary commonplace  life,  and  he  is  attracted  toward  aristocrats.  He 
feels  himself  now  in  an  irreconcilable  conflict  between  passion 
and  duty  towards  the  cause  to  which  he  had  vowed  his  life  (267). 
His  mind  struggles  to  combat  his  love  for  Antonie  (384;  464), 
recognizing  very  well  that  this  love  is  an  error  (383),  but  his 
heart  remains  a  victim  to  her  charms  (320;  673).  He  is  not  the 
man  who  can  make  real  his  idea  of  justice  (323;  325;  382).- 
Neither  does  his  political  activity  make  him  contented.  He  has 
no  confidence  in  the  people  whom  he  wishes  to  reform.  He  es- 
teems the  workmen  for  whom  he  pretends  to  fight,  as  little  as  the 
nobility  and  the  propertied  classes  (646).  Nor  does  he  find  in 
Antonie 's  love  that  satisfaction  for  which  he  has  been  longing 
and  for  which  he  has  sacrificed  his  wife  (461).    He  feels  that  at 


1  Above  p.   64-65. 

2  Above  p.  65. 


165 

the  bottom  of  her  heart  she,  the  aristocrat  by  birth,  must  in  her 
proud  soul  despise  the  cause  for  which  he  seeks  victory  (465). 
He  seeks  death  in  the  revolutionary  rising  when  he  believes  that 
Antonie  has  given  him  up  for  another  man  (575).  His  power  is 
broken.  He  does  not  know  how  to  rhyme  his  ideals  with  life  as 
it  is  (474)  and  feels  that  he  does  not  fit  into  this  world  (665). 
Miinzer,  the  champion  of  justice,  fails  because  of  his  problem- 
atical character. 

Splendid  intellectual  gifts  of  talent  alone  are  not  sufficient  to 
erect  a  new  world.  The  actions  and  words  of  the  democrats  in 
DvH'  preach  Spielhagen's  means  for  the  approximate  solution 
of  social  problems,  and  to  this  purpose  Lassalle  's  political  activity 
has  been  made  subordinate  in  the  novel.  A  new  society  can  and 
must  be  erected  only  on  the  principles  of  right,  justice  and  the 
solidarity  of  interests  (67).  The  archenemy  of  man,  selfishness, 
can  be  overcome  only  by  love  (645).  That  these  principles  shall 
rule  the  earth  and  be  the  foundation  of  the  new  world,  we  must 
begin  with  ourselves  (44).  We  can  hold  ourselves  free  from  sin, 
do  for  our  persons  the  right  thing,  live,  undisturbed  by  the  ego- 
ism of  others,  for  the  ideal  of  brotherhood  (47-49),  and  make  sac- 
rifices as  much  as  we  can,  without  giving  up  our  better  selves 
(372).  Fate  makes  of  us  what  we  make  of  ourselves,  for  our  fate 
is  not  the  work  of  a  God,  but  it  is  ourselves  with  our  weaknesses 
and  virtues  (447;  646;  70).  Every  disloyal  action,  both  in  pri- 
vate life  and  in  politics,  must  needs  result  in  error  and  confusion. 
Hum.an  virtues  are  bound  to  one  another  in  solidarity  (665).  If 
in  any  man  there  has  been  a  disturbance  within  one  sphere  it  will 
react  on  another  ( 501 ) .  Adultery  is  a  sin  against  common  mor- 
ality, a  principle  which  holds  good  everywhere,  and  he  who  be- 
comes faithless  to  his  convictions  (400)  — the  worst  sin  he  can 
commit-  —  who  will  rule  and  knows  not  how  to  rule  himself,  can- 
not be  great  politically.  He  is  the  worst  enemy  to  freedom.  In 
a  trnl3'  free  commonwealth  moral  greatness  is  the  necessary  cor- 
relate to  political  greatness  (389). 

Beside  the  problematical,  there  was,  however,  one  trait  in  Las- 
salle 's  nature  to  which  he  owes  all  his  success,  and  which  made 
him  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men.    History  has  not  kept  rec- 


1  Above  p.  52. 

2  Compromising,  founded  deeply  in  Lassalle's  nature  (cp.  above  p.  78;  92;  93; 
142-3),  is  from  Spielhagen's  viewpoint  a  moral  defect  (cp.  above  p.  64). 


166 

ord  of  many  who  are  such  monuments  to  Will,  as  is  Lassalle/  He 
believed  in  the  power  of  his  will  to  accomplish  anything  on  which 
he  has  set  his  mind,^  and  he  has  shown  in  the  realms  of  leaminfr, 
law  and  politics  that  this  belief  was  no  self-conceit.*  He  was  a 
champion  of  the  indeterminism  of  will,*  and  life  without  action^ 
meant  nothing  to  him.  In  his  correspondence  with  Marx  con- 
cerning his  "Sikkingen"  he  does  not  agree  with  his  friend,  that 
the  failure  of  the  reactionary  Sikkingen  was  demanded  by  the 
philosophy  of  history.  He  is,  from  his  own  personality,  which 
bums  with  impatience  to  act,  so  fully  convinced  of  the  immortal 
right  and  importance  of  individual  initiative  that  he  refuses  to 
accept  a  critical  philosophical  conception  of  history,  which  denies 
the  reality  of  individual  decisions  and  actions,  and  leaves,  there- 
fore, no  ground  for  practical  deeds,  nor  representations  of  ac- 
tions on  the  stage.^  Even  if  Spielhagen  had  not  known  of  this 
correspondence  he  could  not  have  helped  finding  in  Lassalle's 
whole  life  an  exhibition  of  such  an  independent  will.^ 

In  union  with  his  eminent  will  power  and  his  belief  in  the  pos- 
sibility and  necessity  of  free  decision,  his  aristocratic  nature 
shaped  Lassalle's  career.  For  the  innermost  trait  of  his  active 
personality  was  dominating  aristocracy.*  He  had  been  created 
to  rule  like  an  autocrat  and  for  display  —  he  was  always  the 
grand  seignior  with  aristocratic  taste  — he  had  not  been  made 
for  the  part  of  a  plain,  self-denying  champion  of  the  people,  al- 
though he  remained  a  democrat  all  his  life.^  He  looked  as  if  he 
would  conquer  a  throne.^"  There  was  a  feeling  in  him  as  in  the 
offspring  of  an  old  lordly  race,^^  and  even  in  his  youth  he  had 
strong  leanings  toward  aristocracy.'^  His  aristocratic  individu- 
ality showed  itself  not  only  in  his  agreement  with  Heraclitus,  the 
intellectual  aristocrat  who  everywhere  utters  his  contempt  for 
men,  speaks  of  the  democratic  envy  of  greatness  and  declares 
that  there  are  never  more  than  a  few  good  (great)  men,  while 


1  Brandes,  1.  c.  p.  174. 

2  Above  p.  21  f. 

3  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  425. 

4  Above  p.  97. 

5  Above  p.  125. 

8  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  125-6. 

7  Above  p.  65. 

8  Above  p.  26. 

9  Cp.  above  p.  107  ;  12.  Oncken,  p.  436 ;  324  ;  325. 

10  Above  p.  14. 

11  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  436. 

12  Above  p.  26. 


[W 


167 

the  majority  live  like  beasts.^  It  showed  itself  also  in  his  chal- 
lenge to  Fabrice,  the  action  of  an  aristocrat  which  he  prefers  to 
his  democratic  principles.^  It  not  only  explains  his  position  at 
the  head  of  a  party  which  he  created,^  but  brings  him,  in  union 
with  the  inflexibility  of  his  whole  nature,  into  a  position  which 
was  to  result  in  a  great  calamity.* 

Because  of  this  exhibition  of  will,  aristocratic  individuality 
and  desire  for  wielding  an  autocratic  power,  rather  than  in  his 
conceptions  of  State  as  the  embodiment  and  promoter  of  Right,^ 
and  of  Might  as  Right  on  the  part  of  the  Democrat,*  Spielhagen, 
seeking  to  delineate  in  a  poetical  form  the  typical  features  of  the 
spiritual  life  of  his  time,  saw  in  him  a  type  of  reckless  and  ruth- 
](ss  egoism^  of  heroic  proportions,  well  fitted  to  pose  for  the 
drawing  of  a  champion  of  the  working  people  who,  despite  his 
heroic  character,  is  unable,  on  account  of  his  moral  shortcomings, 
to  lead  them  out  of  their  social  wretchedness.  It  is  to  this  pre- 
dominating thought  that  in  IRuG,  too,  the  actual  facts  of  Las- 
salle  's  political  activity  have  been  made  subservient.  Leo,  the 
socialistic  hero,  has  been  equipped  freely  with  the  splendid  gifts 
of  his  prototype,  but  at  the  same  time,  the  main  traits  of  charac- 
ter which  made  the  historical  democrat  the  great  man  of  the  Ger- 
man labor  movement,  have  been  blended  with  some  that  are 
either  fictitious,  or  are  exaggerations  of  the  moral  shortcomings 
of  Lassalle.*  This  was  done  in  order,  by  contrast,  to  bring  into 
prominence  the  ethical  ideals  of  the  novelist  and  the  means  which 
he  proposes  for  the  social  progress  of  mankind.  Thus  Leo  has  be- 
come a  figure  which,  on  the  whole,  differs  greatly  from  the  s 
founder  of  German  social  democracy.  It  is  no  historical  truth 
that  Lassalle  undertook  and  performed  from  reckless  egoism  his 
entire  political-social  activity.  But  such  an  egoism,  the  belief 
that  he  alone  has  found  a  way  that  can  help  the  working  people 
and  the  vigorous  pursuit  of  his  aims  to  the  detriment  of  the  rights 
of  others,  are  both  the  underlying  motives  for  Leo's  political  ac- 
tivity and  the  cause  of  his  necessary  failure. 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  101. 

2  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  107. 

3  Above  p.  140-1 ;  143. 

4  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  324;  325;  432. 

6  Above  p.  72-3. 
8  Above  p.  81. 

7  Cp.  also  above  p.  160. 

8  Above  p.  16  ;  ZO. 


168 

Even  in  his  boyish  mind  he  claimed  to  be  the  instrument  of 
Avhatever  idea  had  just  taken  hold  of  him  (II  413),  but  through 
the  influences  which  he  underwent  as  a  youth  he  has  come  to  ex- 
change the  passion  of  his  heart  for  the  "Idea."  Since  a  serious 
mind  must  sooner  or  later  turn  to  those  highest  problems  which 
appear  on  the  horizon  of  mankind,  Leo  has  given  himself  up  pas- 
sionately to  the  solution  of  the  labor  question,  to  the  exclusion  of 
a  life  of  leisure  (I  512).  He  is  convinced  that  he  has  learned 
something  in  philosophic  and  political  matters  which  is  not  the 
property  of  most  men.  Like  Lassalle\  he  wishes  to  disseminate 
new  ideas.  He  sees  in  the  power  of  capital  those  fetters  which 
must  be  removed  if  the  social  emancipation  of  the  working  people 
is  to  be  accomplished  (II  177).  He  feels  assured  that  with  the 
exception  of  death  and  such  ailments  as  are  inseparable  from 
our  human  nature,  there  is  no  single  evil  which  has  not  its  roots 
in  the  stupidity  of  man.  The  amount  of  natural  suflFerings,  there- 
fore, can  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  (I  258)  by  him  who  has  the 
power  to  force  liberty  and  health  upon  those  who  do  not  wish  to 
be  free  and  healthy  (I  296).  There  was  hardly  any  labor  ques- 
tion in  1862  when  Lassalle  entered  the  political  arena.-  But  the 
mastery  of  Hegelian  dialectis  invited  him  to  shape  actual  condi- 
tions rationally,  it  gave  him  also  the  spiritual  contents  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  working  people^.  So  Leo  will  draw  from  his 
political-philosophical  doctrine  the  practical  conclusions  to  break 
the  power  of  capital  and  feels  that  he  is  blessed  by  fate  to  be  the 
instrument  of  this  great  idea  (I  516),*  as  Lassalle  felt  himself 
called  to  fight  for  his  ideals.'  It  is  this  immortal  idea  which 
forms  the  center  of  his  universe ;  it  is  no  woman  who  occupies 
this  place  (I  263).  In  order  to  serve  with  all  his  power  the  idea 
of  liberty  he  must  be  free  (I  266) .  He  has  learned  to  believe  that 
the  only  true  passions  are  those  of  the  brain  (I  397;  cp.  I  140; 
252),  and  that  the  noblest  and  greatest  of  all  consist  in  the  un- 
selfish devotion  to  a  great  idea  which  carries  in  itself  its  happi- 
ness and  wretchedness,  and,  therefore,  does  not  trouble  itself 
about  the  happiness  or  wretchedness  of  the  individual  (II  274). 
Happiness  and  contentment  are  matters  of  secondary  importance 


1  Above  p.  23. 

2  Above  p.  113  ;   153. 
•t  Above  p.  28. 

4  Above  p.  34. 

.-  Above  p.  27-8. 


169 

(I  265).     Thus  Leo  is  filled  with  the  passions  of  truth  and  jus- 
tice, and  serves  the  great  idea  of  freedom  (I  497 ;  ep.  II  585). 

With  the  spirit  of  independence  and  courage  which  he  showed 
in  his  relations  with  Tusky  (I  192  ;  147),  he  enters  upon  the  pur- 
suit of  his  political  plans  (I  395),  to  be,  like  Lassalle,  the  leader 
of  the  fourth  estate.^  He  has  always  aimed  at  great  things  and 
even  in  his  youth  he  dreamed  of  leadership.^  Conscious,  like 
Lassalle,  of  his  superiority  t'o  many  eminent  men  (I  251),  and 
like  him  having  longed  from  early  youth  to  rise  above  the  crowd,"* 
Leo  also  is  determined  to  succeed.*  His  way  shall  lead  upward, 
for  the  liistorv'  of  nations  is  made  by  those  who  have  power 
(I  271)^  —  Lassalle 's  high  esteem  of  power."  Disappointed  in 
his  hope  to  find  an  understanding  with  the  Liberal  forces  of  the 
State,  he  becomes  a  deserter  from  their  ranks  from  a  mighty  in- 
stinct of  creative  genius,  wliich  finds  in  the  world,  as  it  is,  no 
more  room  for  itself  (I  452-3).  Alone  —  like  Lassalle  —  he  en- 
dea\'ors  to  bring  into  life  his  great  thought  of  freeing  the  work- 
ing people  from  the  fetters  of  capital,  convinced  that  he  will  se- 
cure the  power  to  force  freedom  and  health  upon  those  who  do 
not  wish  to  be  free  and  healthy.  To  this  holy  cause  of  the  people 
in  its  last  consequences,  he  has,  like  the  historic  democrat,  conse- 
crated his  existence.'  To  fight  alone  enflames  rather  than  intimi- 
dates his  courage  (I  451).  He  who  once  has  looked  into  the  mys- 
terious face  of  the  sphinx,  the  social  problem,  is  forever  charmed ; 
he  must  continue  his  dangerous  path,  regardless  whether  jack- 
daws and  ravens  crow  about  him  or  the  abyss  gaps  threatening 
before  him  (I  394).  No  hesitation  and  procrastination,  no  weigh- 
ing and  measuring  becomes  him  who  wishes  to  attain  great  things 
in  a  great  way  (II  165).  He  is  ready  to  sacrifice  himself  like 
Lassalle.**  If  he  should  not  succeed,  he  is  willing  to  depart  this 
life  covered  with  the  jeers  and  scorn  which  the  world  has  in 
store  for  fools  and  adventurers  (I  440).  Failure,  however,  shall 
find  him  greater  than  destiny,  which  can  crush  him,  but  which 
cannot  humiliate  him  (I  530).  He  deems  it  possible  that  the 
times  of  heroes  have  passed  by,  that  the  strong  arm  of  the  indi- 


1  Above  p.  133. 

2  Above  p.  130. 
■■;  Above  p.  21. 

■»  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  188. 

■">  Above  p.  97. 

«5  Above  p.  80. 

7  Above  p.  105  ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  190. 

s  Above  p.  26 ;  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  190. 


170 

vidual  warrior  has  no  longer  the  weight  which  it  had  once,  but  he 
believes  that  genius  has  not  become  superfluous,  for  the  move- 
ments of  the  battalions  must  be  led  by  some  one  who  overlooks 
the  whole.  The  masses  today,  as  formerly  and  ever,  will  and 
must  be  guided.  They  cannot  engender  in  themselves  the  thought 
which  is  to  lead  them,  but  still  must  be  move^  by  him  in  whom 
the  great  thought  originated  (I  268)  — Lassalle's  organization 
of  the  masses.^  Having  learned  what  doleful  parts  dreamers  and 
good  souls  play,  and  are  not  ashamed  to  play,  in  this  cruel  world 
of  inexorable^acts,  Leo  prefers  to  be  the  hammer,  instead  of  the 
anvil.  He  will  use  the  means  for  his  great  aims  with  cold  blood 
and  clear  head  (I  434).  Left  to  his  own  resources,  he  goes  as  a 
heroic  nature  (I  266)  his  way  with  the  boldest  assurance  (I  529) 
as  his  prototype  was,  by  his  mastery  of  Hegelian  dialectics,  im- 
bued with  the  firm  belief  in  himself.-  He  follows  his  star  untir- 
ingly (I  265)  with  his  aims  clear  before  his  mind  —  Lassalle  re- 
mains always  the  democrat  and  seeks  to  the  end  of  his  life  vic- 
tory for  the  democracy  of  1848.^  But  Leo's  former  friends  among 
the  Liberals  find  that  he  walks  through  life,  arbitrarily  and  self- 
sufficiently  like  a  comet,  which  runs  its  course  solitarily  and  in- 
calculably, a  phenomenon,  a  riddle  which  they  cannot  solve 
(1251).*  ^ 

But  because  of  the  many  obstacles  which  confront  him,  Leo 
soon  recognizes  the  impossibility  of  executing  his  plans  without 
support.  He  must,  like  Lassalle,  enter  into  connection  with  influ- 
ential men.*  From  an  idealist  he  turns,  like  him,  to  be  a  realist 
in  politics  (I  251)  in  order  to  attain  his  social  aims  within  the  ex- 
isting- State,'  and  in  so  doing,  the  heroic  champion  of  the  people 
is  compelled  to  compromise  as  the  historic  democrat,  notwith- 
standing his  theory  on  the  failure  of  revolutions,  was  forced  to 
compromise  in  order  to  see  results  in  his  political  activity  and  be- 
come a  power  within  the  State  in  the  shortest  time  possible.* 
Early  in  his  political  career  he  had  wished  to  be  a  king,  for  every 
one  who  plans  great  things  has  at  some  time  this  wish  (I  395). 
He  had  also  seen  in  dreams  the  royal  ruler,  with  head  bowed  be- 
fore him  who  was  ruling  by  the  power  of  mind  and  the  force  of 


1  Above  p.  91. 

2  Above  p.  28.* 

3  Above  p.  142. 

4  Above  p.  141. 

5  Above  p.  92. 
c  Above  p.  106. 


171 

words  (I  431).  He  has  known  for  years  that  this  is  to  happen. 
Great  souls  that  work  on  great  plans  have  in  a  moment  of  extra- 
ordinary excitement  a  kind  of  fore-kngwledge  of  their  fulfill- 
ment by  seeing  certain  pictures  in  dreams.  It  is  only  necessary 
to  interpret  them  rightly.  So  Leo  schemes  to  use  the  king  for  his 
political  plans,  for  the  king  is  susceptible  to  new  ideas,  and  soft 
and  tractable  like  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  artist  (I  431).  If  he 
should  prove  to  be  fragile,  it  would  not  matter,  since  Leo's  work 
would  be  done  in  a  very  short  time.  He  trusts,  like  Lassalle,^  in 
his  ability  to  do  an  unlimited  amount  of  things  in  a  few  years  or 
even  in  a  few  months  (I  431) ,  and  he  is  sure  of  success.  For,  like 
Mm,  be  believes  in  his  star  (II  165). 

Leo,  indeed,  has  had  no  empty  dreams.  He  wins  the  good  graces 
of  the  king,  and,  consequently,  rises  in  influence.  But  while 
drawing  nearer  to  his  goal,  his  striving  for  power  springs  more 
from  selfish  lust  than  from  the  holy  cause  to  which  he  has  vowed 
his  life.  So  Lassalle's  thirst  for  fame,  with  all  positive  efforts, 
must  always  think  of  itself,-  and  might  and  its  possession  becomes 
to  him  everything  in  the  course  of  his  political  career.^  Only  as 
a  democratic  politician,  striving  for  power,  he  becomes  a  social- 
ist.* Leo  had  been  the  lofty  idealist,  which  he  was  in  his  youth,^ 
when  he  entered  the  capital,  and  with  the  feeling  of  responsi- 
bility he  had  undertaken  the  fight  against  the  selfish  interests, 
ruling  the  State,  not  for  himself,  .but  for  the  working  people 
(II  598).  As  a  prophet  he  had  utt0;red  proud  words  (II  412-3). 
His  ambition  was  praiseworthy  and  his  egoism  had  altruistic  pur- 
poses. He  believed  himself  to  have  found  the  only  way  possible 
for  the  social  improvement  of  the  conditions  of  the  working  peo- 
ple and  was  engaged  solely  in  accomplishing  this  task.  But  when 
the  opportunity  of  gaining  influence  over  the  king  offers  itself 
Leo  works  systematically  for  the  sake  of  his  own  success  (II  518) . 
So-iiassalle  's  striving  for  power  had  also  personal  motives.^  Leo 
himself,  to  be  sure,  is  not  aware  of  this;  he  believes  that  he  is 
working  to  rule  all,  in  order  to  serv-^e  many  unselfishly  (II  267). 
He  feels  like  Jehova,  who  desires,  in  the  first  place,  to  be  a  god 
of  justice,  and,  therefore,  cannot  suffer  any  other  god  beside 


1  Above  p.  22. 

2  Above  p.  21. 

3  Above  p.  21;  80. 

4  Above  p.  141:  6. 

5  Above  p.  22-3. 

6  Above  p.  130. 


172 

himself  (II  268).  But  because  Leo  is  always  friendly  with,  and 
obliging  to,  those  who  are  weaker  than  he  (II  267),  others  inter- 
pret his  desire  for  power  differentl}' ;  they  believe  he  bids  for  the 
favor  of  the  people  in  order  to  satisfy  his  selfish  lust  for  rule. 
Indeed,  the  heroic  champion  of  the  people  becomes  the  champion 
of  his  own  interests  (II  367-9).  Although  he  thinks  or  pretends 
to  be  free  from  petty  egoism  (II  170),  his  political  activity  is 
blemished  by  his  selfish  work  in  the  interest  of  holding  and 
strengthening  his  personal  power  which  this  position  makes  cer- 
tain. In  his  youth  he  had  always  wished  for  something  out  of 
the  ordinary  line  for  himself,  he  had  striven  and  hoped  for  it. 
Now  when  he  has  found  the  greatest  appreciation  by  the  king, 
who.  he  believes,  is  not  entirely  unworthy  of  this  name,  his  old 
vanity  leads  him  astray  .(H  596).  His  aristocratic  individuality 
puts  itself  forward.  As^with  Lassalle,^  so  Leo's  innermost  in- 
clinations and  true  nature  are  repelled  by  the  vulgar  crowd  for 
Avhom  he  must  pretend  to  have  love  and  the  desire  to  labor.  He 
has  nothing  but  pitj'  for  them,  or  that  sympathy  which  a  drill- 
sergeant  has  for  the  block-head  whom  he  must  drill,  and  a  police- 
man has  for  the  starving  vagabond  whom  he  must  pick  up  from 
the  dirty  streets,  and  love  only  in  so  far  as  love  is  pity  (II  319)  — 
Lassalle,  however,  had  always  an  honest  compassion  with  those 
against  whom  he  saw  an  outrage  committed.- 

Without  losing  sight  of  his  aims  to  erect  a  new  social  world, 
as  Lassalle  always  remained  the  democrat,  Leo's  autocratic  de- 
sires manifest  themselves  with  all  their  inherent  moral  blam- 
ableness  and  harmfulness  to  others,  an  exaggeration  or  even  a 
fictitious  rendering  of  the  dominant  aristocratic  character  of  the 
great  democrat.  Leo  allows  no  interference  with  the  freedom  of 
his  decisions.  This  is  in  certain  measure  true  with  Lassalle,  but 
it  is  enlarged  upon  in  Leo.  The  mere  thought  that  some  one 
attempts  to  impose  his  will  on  hira  is  sufficient  to  arouse  his  feel- 
ing of  independence  and  to  feed  his  lust  for  power;  it  prompts 
him  to  exercise  his  tried  strength  to  throw  off  mercilessly  every- 
thing which,  uninvited,  crowds  upon  him  with  the  intention  of 
crossing  his  path  (I  404).  Pitiless  and  circumspect,  as  must  be 
he  who  struggles  with  the  world  (I  402-3),  the  erstwhile  champ- 
ion of  the  "Idea"  becomes  the  egoist  who  is  more  concerned 


1  Above  p.  70. 

2  Above  p.   72. 


173 

about  the  pretense  of  being  the  instrument  or  the  apostle  of  his 
idea  than  about- its  contents;  a  demagogue  whose  social  program 
seems  to  become  only  a  means  for  selfish  ends  (II  505;  cp. 
II  518)  — the  Liberal  capitalists,  too,  think  that  Leo  uses  the 
Labor  question  only  to  push  himself  into  the  highest  political 
spheres.^  Lassalle,  on  the  other  hand,  works,  during  the  last 
month  of  his  life,  for  a  revolution  by  the  Government,  and  his 
social  aims  recede  for  the  moment —  f  a  cold  calculator  who,  still 
and  great,  proceeds  without  troubling  himself  about  those  who 
cry  on  the  side  of  his  path.  He  knows  only  one  weakness,  to 
permit  himself  to  be  led  from  his  course  by  secondary  considera- 
tions (I  492).  In  his  endeavor  to  gain  influence  everywhere 
(I  366),  he  shows  that  he  has  no  heart  like  other  men.  He  who 
believes  himself  true  to  his  duty  and  is  held  to  be  a  man  of 
heroic  virtues  does  not  concern  himself  about  the  individual 
(I  465 ;  513-4),  unless  it  has  a  political  interest  for  him  (I  437), 
to  be  thrown  aside  when  he  has  profited  by  it  (I  358;  442).  It 
is  to  the  interest  of  the  common-weal  that  he  sacrifices  a  whole 
family  (I  523),  but  the  lot  of  the  mill  people,  who  have  given 
themselves  into  his  hands  as  their  attorney  and  champion,  does 
not  trouble  him  when  his  principal  aim  is  to  hold  his  power 
over  the  king  (II  380),  or  when  his  heart  claims  at  last  its 
rights  —  only  the  latter  would  apply  to  Lassalle ;  for  he  had  a 
decided  feeling  for  justice.^  Leo  becomes  unscrupulous  in  his 
egoism.  Spielhagen  speaks  of  Lassalle  as  "der  riickssichts- 
iind  skrupellos  handelnde."*  This,  apparently,  refers  to  his 
political  methods.  Oncken  also  says  that  Lassalle  was  unscrupu- 
lous in  politics,  that  he  would  make  use  of  anything  which  might 
appear  as  a  success  of  his  agitation.^  In  the  case  of  Leo,  how- 
ever, unscrupulousness  is  more  personal.  He  never  loses  sight 
of  his  aims  or  twists  resolutions  which  he  has  taken,  although  he 
may  change  his  ways  (II  477).  If  he  chooses  another  way  it  is 
not  because  of  any  sentimental  emotion  (II  160).  He  would 
sacrifice  his  best  friends  or  the  woman  whom  he  loves  if  he  be- 
lieved that  would  help  him  (I  493).  The  sacredness  of  his 
cause  has  ceased  to  be  to  him  an  assurance  of  its  success,  and 


1  Above  p.  100. 

2  Above  p.  143. 

3  Above  p.  77. 

4  Above  p.  7. 

5  Oncken,   1.  c.   p.  38. 


174  f 

every  means  suits  him  if  it  promises  good  resiilts  (II  413)  ;  it 
does  not  matter  to  him  if  this  success  is,  from  an  ethical  view- 
point, entirely  desecrated  by  the  evil  means  which  he  employs 
(II  412).  He  professes  openly,  without  the  quiver  of  an  eyelid, 
views  which  he  despises  from  the  depth  of  his  soul.  He  will  mar- 
ry a  woman  of  noble  rank  because  it  fits  into  his  political  com- 
binations (II  412),  a  woman  who  understands  just  enough  of 
his  ideas  and  plans,  in  order  to  know  that  she  cannot  lecture 
him  (II  319).  And  in  the  refusal  to  marry  a  woman  for  her 
wealth,  he  sees  an  action,  worthy  of  the  hollow  idealism  which 
he  finds  contemptible  in  the  Liberals  after  they  have  become  his 
opponents  (II  338). 

His  vanity  and  assumption  of  superiority  bring  him  more  and 
more  into  conflict  with  the  ethical  principles  of  society.  It  is 
true,  he  does  not  forget  the  warnings  of  Tusky  to  beware  of 
the  first  blot  on  his  character  since  his  blood  is  hot  —  which  can- 
not be  said  of  Lassalle  —  nor  must  he  be  reproached  for  com- 
plaining that  he  must  make  history  with  men  who,  in  their 
timidity  and  scrupulousness,  consider  their  duties  toward 
others  instead  of  making  use  of  the  suitableness  of  political  con- 
stellations (I  531),  and  for  considering  —  in  agreement  with 
Lassalle  —  immoral  and  hating  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart  the 
merchant-ethics  which  always  speaks  of  the  "Mine"  and  the 
"Thine",  and  in  which  everything  is  measured  by  the  yard  of 
individual  advantage  (II  274).  But  in  his  unfortunate  over- 
weaning  opinion  of  himself  (II  597),  Leo  treats  with  indiffer- 
ence common  morality.  He  is  not  concerned  about  the  morality 
of  men  in  his  attempt  to  improve  social  conditions,  whereas 
Lassalle  devotes  his  life  to  an  alliance  of  learning  and  the  work- 
ing people,  and  therefore,  has  also  an  ethical  interest  in  them.^ 
Leo  can  do  nothing  but  use  the  people  for  his  purposes  in  what- 
ever way  these  purposes  require  (I  352).  And  for  himself,  he 
concedes  to  great  men  an  exceptional  position  in  respect  to  com- 
mon ethics.  Life  is  to  him  a  science.  When  one  considers  it 
such  and  commits  an  error,  then  his  grief  differs  very  much 
from  the  desolate  pang  which  springs  from  the  so-called  moral 
constitution  of  the  world  with  which  they  frighten  small  and 


1  Above  p.  125. 


175 

grown  up  children.  It  does  not  matter  to  him  whether  such  is 
the  philosophy  of  a  god  or  a  devil ;  it  is  certainly  not  the  philoso- 
phy of  mediocre  men  who  would  not  be  called  men  if  they  were 
not  in  the  majority  (I  353).  Indeed,  he  believes  it  to  be  the 
glory  of  great  men,  not  to  be  wholly  blameless  morally,  and  of  an 
able  man,  not  to  be  desirous  of  being  guiltless.  Only  he  who  has 
not  understood  fully  this  word  of  the  philosopher^  can  demand 
of  himself  to  be  morally  without  blemish  (I  515).  Sometimes 
one  does  the  good  because  his  way  leads  straight  over  it.  One 
needs  not  do  it  for  its  own  sake  (II  505).  A  heroic  man,  like 
Leo,  cannot  be  measured  by  the  standard  of  commonplace  mor- 
ality (II  370). 

But  this  heroic  champion  of  the  people,  the  great  man  who 
owes  himself  to  his  great  aims,  as  kings  owe  themselves  to  their 
people  (I  516),  who,  in  the  pursuit  of  these  aims  offends  the 
accepted  standard  of  ethics  and  unwittingly  is  more  concerned 
about  having  his  own  way  and  ruling,  autocratically  without 
true  sympathy  with  the  sufferings  of  the  working  people,  fails 
by  overrating  himself.  He  had  boasted  of  being  free  from  senti- 
mental emotions,  and  of  not  belonging  to  those  who  crave  for 
love  because  they  cannot  live  without  a  mirror  which  in  reflect- 
ing beautifies  their  pictures,  nor  to  those  who  strive  for  friend- 
ship because,  conscious  of  their  weakness,  they  are  afraid  in  the 
gloom  of  life  (I  541).  But  there  is  also  something  problemati- 
cal in  him.  His  heart,  like  Miinzer's,  carries  the  day.  He  is 
now  no  longer  the  man  who  he  used  to  be  (II  509),  and  like 
Lassalle  and  Miinzer,  forgets  that  for  which  he  has  been  working 
(II  556-7).  His  political  ambitions  fade  before  the  desire  to 
revenge  himself.  Now  he  does  not  change  even  his  ways,  be- 
cause he  has  gone  too  far  (II  477).  He  will  continue  the  fight 
in  the  waj"^  in  which  he  had  started  it  (II  598).  But  an  unlucky 
accident  ends  his  life.  In  his  political  fall  it  becomes  also  mani- 
fest that  whatever  successes  he  has  had,  they  have  been  dependent 
on  the  ruling  powers  of  the  State  —  Lassalle 's  position  dependent 
on  Bismarck.-  His  rise  was  due  to  the  influence  of  his  cousin 
on  the  King.^  Without  this  influence,  without  the  chain  by 
which  Leo  draws  the  heavy  royal  earth  up  to  the  Olympian 

1  Scbelling.     Influence  of  Lassalle? 

2  Above  p.   141. 

3  Spielhagen's  creation  of  this  loveljr  woman  a  poetical  representation  of  the 
conservative-liberalism  which  for  a  short  time  ruled  in  Prussia  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  "Conflict"? 


176 

height  of  his  view  of  the  world  (II  170),  all  heroism  of  his  is  of 
no  avail.  The  king's  judgment  runs:  Leo  in  his  vanity  and  ar- 
rogance has  leaped  all  bounds;  he  cannot  do  the  great  things 
which  he  boasted  he  could  do.  He  is  an  impostor,  a  charlatan 
(II  534-5).  And  this  judgment  is  subscribed  to  also  by  Spiel- 
hagen  and  his  ideologists  in  IRuG.  As  a  problematical  charac- 
ter, like  Miinzer's,  cannot  solve  the  social  problem,  so  a  heroic 
nature  like  Leo 's,  is  unfit  for  this  task. 

The  novelist,  too,  is  aware  of  the  wretchedness  of  the  existing 
conditions  and  of  the  need  of  a  radical  change  (I  438-9;  cp. 
I  453-4).  He  sees  that  the  time  has  put  forward  problems  which 
must  be  solved;  he  himself  intends  to  do  his  share  in  helping 
the  progress  of  mankind  ( I  303 ) .  He  goes  direct  at  the  solution 
of  those  problenis  and  voices  frankly  his  convictions  (I  302 )y 
by  giving  his  novels  a  purpose.  As  the  laws  of  poetry  prevent 
him  from  saying  that  which  is  to  him  of  the  greatest  import 
(I  304),  he  will  fee  a  man  of  action,  a  man  who  proclaims  and 
preaches  from  his  platform,  the  novel,  that  which  as  a  poet  he 
would  be  obliged  to  keep  shut  up  in  his  desk;  a  man  who  no 
longer  reflects  magical  castles  through  the  fata  morgana  of  his 
poetry,  but  girds  on  jgy^sty  leathern  apron  and  helps  with 
hammer  and  trowel  in  Building  the  house  in  which  free  men 
shall  live  beside  freemen  (I  305-6).^  He  and  his  friends  claim 
that  they  march  at  the  head  of  all  those  who  are  earnestly  en- 
gaged in  leading  the  German  people  from  mediaeval  cojiditions 
up  to  liberty  and  light  (II  398).  They  feel  that  they  have  the 
cultural  mission  to  enlighten  the  people  and  destroy  egoism, 
and  this  also  in  the  interest  of  women  (I  401;  cp.  I  414-5). 
They  believe  themselves  to  be  the  salt  of  the  earth,  without 
which  it  would  become  torpid  in  desolate  selfishness,  an  abode 
for  wild  animals  in  human  forms.  They  look  beyond  the  indi- 
vidual at  the  general  interest  so  that  nothing  ambiguous  and 
obscure  remain  in  them ;  that  any  possible  remnant  of  selfishness 
will  disappear  in  the  great  holy  aim,  the  humane  thought,  which 
in  its  loftiest  expression  is  love.  This  humane  thought  has  taken 
hold  of  their  hearts  and  minds,  and  compels  them  to  strive  for 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  its  justice,  which  are  so  intimately  re- 
lated that  the  one  is  unthinkable  without  the  other.     This  jus- 


1  Above   p.   7. 


177 

tice,  in  union  with  the  faithful  fulfillment  of  the  duties  which 
our  daily  work  imposes  on  us  (cp.  II  388-9)  makes  us  worthy 
of  a  better  future  (II  174),  and  will  bring  about  the  free  State 
for  which  they  hope  (cp.  I  399;  303).  It  can,  however,  main- 
tain its  rights  only  under  the  protection  of  the  sovereign  free- 
dom of  culture  (I  415).  These  Liberals  are  proud  to  be  called 
ideologists.  They  believe  in  themselves,  trust  that  they  will  be 
freed  from  slavery  (I  305),  love  truth  (I  251),  insist  on  morali- 
ty in  politics  (I  398;  cp.  II  270),  and  excel  in  frankness  and  in 
fidelity  to  their  convictions  (1299).  They  profess  these  convictions 
without  feai^of  men  (I  397).  They  are  ready  to  sacrifice  them- 
selves that  liberty  may  dawn  for  the  people  (I  398)  and  con- 
sider it  a  duty  and  honor  to  suffer  for  just  things  (I  397),  in 
their  attempt  to  remove  the  existing  difficulties  that  the  follow- 
ing generations  may,  upon  smoother  and  broader  paths,  hasten 
on  to  conditions  of  liberty  (II  398).  The  social  question  is 
with  Spielhagen  an  ethical  question  . 

In  contrast  with  Leo-Lassalle,  who  sees  in  the  power  of  capital 
the  main  cause  of  social  wretchedness,  the  novelist  recog- 
nizes qnly  a  few  defects  which  can  and  must  be  abolished,  or 
made  at  least  harmless,  by  spreading  a  better  education.  Man 
must  be  taught  to  aspire  for  the  good,  beautiful  and  true 
(cp.  I  312).^  We  must  live  our  lives  without  fear  so  that  we  en- 
joy the  fragrance  of  every  good  deed  (cp.  II  400),  and  our  ac- 
tions must  emanate  from  our  innermost  being  if  they  are  to  be 
valid  (II  322;  cp.  I  409;  246).  For  the  greatest  happiness  is 
found  in  that  we  agree  with  ourselves  and  feel  responsible  for 
whatever  we  do  (I  305 ;  cp.  I  120).  Love,-  the  better  part  of  our 
human  nature,  the  humane  and  democratic  idea  which  comprises 
all  mankind,  as  it  was  born  with,  and  is  immortal  like,  mankind 
(II  172),  has  been  given  new  strength  by  the  revolution.  It 
must  now  become  nobler  and  richer  in  the  life  of  man,  must  be 
set  to  work,  must  become  an  object  of  sentiment  (II  399).  The 
ideologists  have  sympathy  with  the  poor  and  wretched.^  The 
individual  is  to  be  freed  from  distress  and  burdens,  none  shall 
carry  more  than  he  is  able  to  do  (I  267).  Our  heart  must  feel 
oppressed  at  the  sight  of  want,  and  our  hands  must  open  them- 


1  Above  p.  8. 

2  Above   p.   55. 

3  Above  p.   137. 


178 

selves  at  the  voice  of  poverty,  it  being  our  duty  to  lend  at  any 
time  our  ears  to  those  in  affliction  (II  11).  There  is  only  one  im- 
morality, that  is  the  lack  of  kindness  of  heart,  in  which  any  and 
every  feeling  becomes  torpid  (II  272).  An  active,  practical  love 
in  a  free  commonwealth  (I  303)  must  take  the  place  of  re- 
ligion. Politics  must  emanate  from  a  moral  philosophy  which 
aflSrms  liberty  for  all  (cp.  I  312;  II  400),  and  allows  every  one 
to  find  his  salvation  in  a  way  that  suits  him  best  (I  53).  This 
does  not  mean  that  the  novelist  and  his  friends  wish  to  prevent 
children  from  attending  church.  Not  every  one  comes  into 
peace  with  his  God  in  the  same  way  as  his  neighbor,  nor  must 
children  find  the  path  obstructed  which  for  centuries  has  been 
tak6n  by  innumerable  people,  and  without  doubt,  has  led  them 
very  often  to  their  goal  (I  53).  But  they  believe  that  religion, 
like  art,  is  only  a  point  of  transit  for  mankind  on  its  pilgrimage 
to  its  highest  development.  For  a  religion,  which  puts  the  solu- 
tion of  the  most  perplexing  problems  into  an  indefinite  here- 
after, can  give  them  no  complete  satisfaction  (I  303).  They 
claim  for  actual  facts  an  eternal  sovereignty  (I  301)  and  are 
not  satisfied  with  making  an  ''immortal  Idea",  as  such,  a  center 
in  the  whirl  of  crowding  phenomena  (I  263). 

It  is  the  spirit  of  human  brotherhood  (II  619)  which  makes 
Spielhagen  and  the  best  types  of  Liberals  the  unselfish  cham- 
pions of  the  people  against  the  egoism  of  the  nobility,  church 
and  the  brutal  police  tyranny  which  calls  itself  the  Govern- 
ment (cp.  II  399;  400;  I  305).^  For  they  believe  that  these  are, 
because  of  their  privileges  or  illegitimate  immunities,  the  main 
obstacles  for  the  diffusion  of  education  and  for  social  progress 
(I  314).  They  will  not  acknowledge  a  nobility  by  birth.  True 
nobleness  consists  in  goodness  of  character,  in  the  unceasing  en- 
deavor to  perfect  oneself,  and  consequently,  the  nobility  of  a 
race  can  only  be  found  in  excellence,  increasing  from  generation 
to  generation  (I  137).  The  claim  to  nobility  can,  therefore, 
only  be  earned.  It  is  not  exclusive  but  strives  to  include  in  it- 
self all  mankind  (II  216).  An  aristocracy  which  holds  privi- 
leges by  reason  of  birth,  a  Government  which  suppresses  liberty, 
and  a  church  which  pursues  its  selfish  ends  are,  moreover,  in 
conflict  with  the  great  thought  of  the  solidarity  of  human  inter- 


1  Above  p.  1]8. 


179 

ests  which  is  again  putting  itself  forward  in  these  days.  Every- 
one, of  whatever  parentage,  must  submit  himself  to  this  thought 
(I  266-7),  no  one  can  rightfully  claim  an  exceptional  position 
which  favors  his  interests  to  the  detriment  of  the  rest. 

Nor  can  he  be  considered  a  great  man  who  has  not  contended 
for  this"  solidarity  and  followed  it  up  in  all  its  ramifications  to 
the  best  of  his  ability  and  realized  it  by  his  acts.  Leo-Lassalle  is 
not  striving  for  this  greatness,  nor  willing  to  be  converted  to  this 
thought  of  the  solidarity  of  interests  (I  386).  He  prefers  to  pur- 
sue his  selfish  aims  while  he  is  posing  as  the  heroic  champion  of 
the  working  people.  What  he  has  in  mind  is  something  impossi- 
ble, unattainable,  and  revolting  against  the  democratic  spirit  of 
the  time.  He  plumes  himself  on  worshipping  the  '  *  Idea. ' '  But 
that  this  idea  is  not  the  idea  of  the  Liberals  is  shown  by  his 
method  of  action.  While  he  himself  makes  pathetic  speeches  — 
like  Lassalle^  —  (II  388-9),  a  third  person  must  be  made  use  of 
for  the  work  of  realization.  He  makes,  and  must  make,  use  of 
evil  means  which  are  not  only  frail  and,  therefore,  bound  to 
foil  his  plans,  but  become  or  may  become  in  the  turn  of  a  hand 
evil  aims  (I  393 ;  II  275 ;  270).  If  the  Liberal  idea  is  the  "Idea," 
Leo  cannot  prevent  it  from  realizing  itself,  still  less  destroy  it 
(I  453).  He  may  obscure  it  for  a  moment,  but  it  does  not  de- 
pend on  the  doings  and  conduct  of  an  individual  (I  453).  An 
individual  can  be  but  its  instrument  (II  275),  not  its  father. 

Moreover,  however  heroic  one  may  be,  he  can  accomplish  noth- 
ing great,  as  an  individual  and  in  a  moment.  Leo  is  mistaken  in 
doing  things  head  over  heels.  Besides  his  socialistic  experiments 
to  raise  the  wages  of  the  working  people  —  for  it  is  evident  that 
siich  a  raise  cannot  last  any  length  of  time  since  wages  depend 
on  the  market  of  the  world  (II  176)  — ,  his  dissatisfaction  with 
the  slow  progress,  made  by  human  industry  and  activity,  is  not 
well  founded.  The  Liberals,  too,  wish  for  a  faster  progress.  But 
since  the  basis  on  which  a  new  social  world  is  to  be  erected  must 
be  broader,  the  plans  for  the  democratic  uplift  of  the  people  will 
take  more  time  for  their  execution  than  a  heroic  individual  like 
Leo  may  wish.  And  this  is  not  harmful.  Only  that  which  has 
been  prepared  with  the  sweat  of  the  brow  and  finished  by  the 
slow,  hard  work  of  thousands  of  industrious  hands,  will  bring 


1  Oncken,  1.  c.  p.  116. 


r>:; 


180 

the  right  kind  of  blessing,  and  will  last  for  centuries  (I  246-7; 
cp.  I  433).  And  finally,  no  one  can  go  a  solitary  way  if  he 
wishes  to  be  successful  in  a  task  of  the  greatest  import  for  all. 
As  a  politician,  Leo-Lassalle  commits  the  fatal  error  of  believ- 
ing himself  able  to  swim  against  the  current,  and  of  imagin- 
ing that  an  individual  can  unite  in  himself  the  sum  of  strength, 
discernment  and  knowledge  which  ordinarily  is,  with  difficulty 
and  incompletely,  found  only  in  a  goodly  number  of  able  party- 
leaders  (I  385).  In  order  to  accomplish  the  great  political  deed 
which  is  to  be  accomplished,  Leo-Lassalle  must  unite  his  power 
with  that  of  others,  the  good  are  unable  to  do  anything  unless 
they  stand  together  (I  439).  We  live  for  one  another  (I  52-3). 
We  can  attain  our  highest  development,  our  salvation,  only  by 
following  the  motto :  The  individual  for  all,  and  all  for  the  in- 
dividual, like  good  soldiers  in  rank  and  file  (I  266),  that  is,  by 
living  for  the  "holy  order"  (II  620).  All  countries  contain 
good  people  who  form  a  single  great  army,  while  the  individual 
is  but  a  single  soldier.  However  feeble  he  is  as  such,  he  is  ir- 
resistible as  a  member  of  the  whole  (I  266-67).  The  times  when 
heroes  took  the  lead  and  the  headless  and  heartless  crowd  fol- 
lowed them,  shouting  and  inactive  (I  266)'  have  passed  by. 
Now  and  then.we  may,  in  the  boundlessness  of  absolute  conten- 
tedness,  believe  in  our  ability  to  remove  mountains.  But  this 
arrogant  vanity  is  crushed  by  the  unchangeable  weight  of  facts 
(cp.  I  253).  In  view  of  this,  the  individual  must  needs  despair 
of  his  powers  and  grasp  for  anything  and  everything  which  has 
the  semblance  of  help  to  him  in  his  impotency  (I  386).^  But 
this  is  of  no  avail.  The  obstinate,  capricious  pursuance  of  sucli 
aims  as  Leo-Lassalle 's  must  lead  to  a  tragic  issue,  unless  one 
make  concessions  (II  173 ;  cp.  II  388-9) .  A  man  with  a  character 
like  theirs  may  act,  for  a  time,  the  part  of  a  star.  The  magician 
apprentice  will  be  drowned  by  the  waters  which  he  has  conjured 
(I  454).  He  will  pay  for  socialistic  experiments  with  his  moral, 
perhaps  with  his  physical  death  (I  454).  Heroes  and  saints  may 
sacrifice  themselves  but  they  are  unable  to  deliver  others 
(II  260). 


1  Above  p.   156-7. 


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